A Broken Screen

by TheGimbler

The WHDAAA cast has finally finished the third arc, however, the Warden is attacked by an outside force! The mechanism for the screen breaks and starts showing the cast events that haven't happened yet! (Basically, WHDAAA cast reacts to moments in Re:Zero out-of-context)

3. Chapter 3: You're my hero? Liar

DEAR GOD! IT'S DONE! I never would've thought that this would be 26k words long, so that's why it took so long, haha.

Yeah so, I've read a lot of comments about how I should do the IF stories, but I can't. Remember how I said this is a spin-off? Well, the guy who wrote the thing I'm doing a spin-off of told me not to do the IF stories, so... yeah. Sucks.

I am never doing such a large amount of text ever again cause fuck you, that's why. This was such a pain in the ass to write and y'all gotta deal with my bitching. Either way, do enjoy this chapter I spent too long writing and I hope to see you in the next!

---

The bed in the middle of the crowd was empty, the blankets disturbed unnaturally. The pillows were in disarray, and the blankets upheaved. While this may seem normal for anyone else just waking up, Subaru hadn't moved aside from breathing from the moment he entered the theater. Meaning that he was forcefully moved out of his bed somewhere.

Emilia immediately thought about the possible candidates that took him.

The two royal candidates that had wanted him for themselves… No, they looked just as shocked and confused as she was.

She turned and scanned the room. Reinhardt was wide-eyed and muttering to himself. Garfiel was running around the room upturning beds and cabinets searching for his captain. Otto was with Garfiel, but a small bit away because of Garfiel's lack of care for sleeping equipment. Frederica and Petra were asking the Sword Demon if he had any information, he shakes his head in denial. Felix was closely inspecting Subaru's bed, searching for anything that might tell them the culprit.

And Roswaal along with Rem and Ram… were missing.

Emilia's eyes narrowed, she'd found her suspect.

"Attention!" Emilia shouts over the confused crowd, quickly gaining their attention. "Where is Margrave Mathers?"

The cold tone in her voice made it very clear who she thought took her knight. The eyes in the crowd slowly darkened as they looked around the room and found no trace of the clown's whereabouts, Rem and Ram were off the suspect list for obvious reasons. Well, Ram might know something about it because she's the closest to Roswaal, so they'll ask her first, instead of the usually despondent Margrave.

"Tch, Makes sense if it was him." Felt clicks her tongue. "Though I'm not sure why he'd even attempt it when Reinhardt's here."

"Doesn't matter." Crusch coldly replies, making chills go down the spines of those caught off-guard. "He'll explain everything when I get a hold of him."

The green-haired duchess quickly turns and walks to the only exit of the room, the rest of the crowd following; with stragglers like Garfiel and Otto quickly ending their search and entering the file.

When she reaches for the door handle, however, it opens on its own. Revealing a maid on the other side holding the opposite handle. Rem looks at the group in surprise, her horn being used in full power. Crusch immediately asks Rem the question that each person held in their mind.

"Where's Suba-" She tries to demand answers from the maid, however, she notices something.

Blood. The maid's hands and forearms were covered in blood.

"Bring Felix! Hurry!" Rem doesn't even seem to notice the crowd as she instantly spots Felix and turns to him. "PLEASE! THE BLEEDING WON'T STOP!"

The catboy revered as the greatest water mage instantly switches modes and moves through the door. The look on the maid's face meant something was very, very wrong. If Felix could help with whoever was bleeding so much, he certainly would.

Seeing the two start sprinting towards the theater room leaves those left behind feeling an overwhelming feeling of dread. Those who are extremely fast quickly chase after them, easily catching up to the earlier healer and maid.

Reinhardt, Garfiel, Wilhelm, and Felt speed past the two, with Reinhardt in the lead. While next to them, he quickly scoops up both Rem and Felix in his arms to carry them to the room as fast as possible.

"F-faster! We may not have t-time!" Rem hurriedly speaks to Reinhardt. He nods with a grimace, this is really bad if the maid was getting so worked up. His legs turned from a blur to invisible to the naked eye as he sped up.

Reinhardt was the first to reach the room, easily outrunning the three and clearing the lengthy hallway in just a few seconds.

He didn't open the door with his hands, he was carrying Rem and Felix after all. So he kicked the door with enough force to crack a building.

The door exploded off its hinges and splintered instantly, sending fragments of itself everywhere.

The Sword Saint looked around the room for what required critical attention.

"Ah."

Was all he said when he laid eyes upon him.

---

The group that got left behind quickly followed in the wake of the fastest of the group burrowing down the corridor. Concern burrowed deep within their hearts, they worried about just what had happened when they were asleep.

Emilia bites her lip, she shouldn't have been so careless as to fall asleep! Now Subaru might be in danger, and judging by Rem's actions and bloodied arms… Fear starts creeping into her heart.

The others running alongside her aren't feeling much better.

Crusch didn't even want to imagine why Rem was covered in blood. Her worst fear continued to play in her mind. But he's still alive because things haven't been reset… She grits her teeth in anger and a bit of fear. She doesn't want to forget! If she does, then she might forget everything Subaru did for her!

Otto felt despair while running behind the faster candidates. He's seen so much death on the screen in the theater, and yet he's never seen such death with his own two eyes. When he exits the corridor… will he get his first chance at seeing the very thing he has nightmares about?

Beatrice couldn't run fast at all. Built like a twelve-year-old, her legs maxed out at half a mile an hour. She cursed her mother's choice in design, she needed magic to move at fast speeds, something she thought she'd always have access to, but not here.

Frederica decided to stay behind with Petra, she didn't want her to see what was happening in the theater. Subaru was extremely dear to her brother, and someone she highly respects. The screen may display his suffering, but she wasn't going to venture after opportunities to see more.

They hear the door explode in front of them, Reinhardt had made it to the end.

Tch! Emilia tries to run faster, but her legs won't carry her the speed she wants. She wasn't fatigued, nor did her legs hurt, she simply could not carry herself faster without magical assistance.

The footsteps in front of them start fading as they reach their destination, but they're quickly replaced with shouts and screams. Emilia strains her eyes and tries to see if she can make out any details from the now-destroyed exit.

The details aren't in view, everything must only be in sight at the exit!

Excruciating second after excruciating second passes, she still runs. Each moment she gets closer to see what happened; to see what happened to Subaru.

Finally, after too much time running in the corridor, she reaches the former doorway, and was greets her eyes is-

Subaru, surrounded by Roswaal and Ram both tightly holding onto his arms, trying to stop the seemingly endless torrent of blood. Those arms, which were completely shredded apart.

---

Reinhardt's first instinct is to stop the bleeding but he isn't well-versed in that department. He immediately took the next best option.

He moved so fast, it looked like he teleported next to Subaru and the two trying to stop his bleeding.

"TCH!" Felix immediately moved next to Ram and quickly assessed the situation. "We need to stop the bleeding! He'll die if this continues! REINHARDT! HAND ME YOUR BELT!"

Reinhardt acted on Felix's words, immediately unclasping his belt and giving it to the healer.

Felix quickly wound the belt around one of Subaru's arms, the arm that Roswaal was holding. The belt was tightened high above the wounds on his arm, a make-shift tourniquet to forcibly stop all the bleeding to Subaru's arm.

Finished with the first arm, Felix turned to the Margrave next to him. "Please give me your belt, Margrave Mathers!"

Roswaal held no objections as he gave Felix one of his belts and then continued to put pressure on Subaru's belted arm. He wasn't going to allow Subaru to die, if his Return by Death ability were to be activated in this place, he may return to a point before their entrance to the theater, meaning no one would remember the scenes they've seen on the screen. Roswaal needs to know that information to ensure that Subaru would never lose his love for his friends, and especially for Emilia.

Felix placed the belt of the upper bicep of Subaru's other arm, quickly wrapping it around and clasping it.

"OI! WHA' TH' 'ELL IS HAPPENIN'!" Garfiel along with the other guests have arrived after these few short moments. When he laid his eyes on his captain, Garfiel's eyes widened instantly, then narrowed when he locked his vision on Roswaal. "YA' BASTARD!"

Garfiel rushed ahead of the others that had entered the room with him, each too shocked to stop him. He easily cleared the 3 rows of chairs up to Roswaal, who was still next to Subaru and Ram.

"WAIT GARFIEL! ROSWAAL-SAMA ISN'T RESPONSIBLE!" The maid's cries weren't heard by him. He was filled with rage and only rage at the clown. "STOP!"

Garfiel landed next to Roswaal and punched him in the face- At the moment before the punch connected, a foot placed itself into Garfiel's abdomen sending him to the ground a few feet away.

Reinhardt had stepped in.

"If you want someone to take out your anger on, please take it out on me." The red-haired knight said simply, as he took on a simple fighting stance.

"STAY OUT 'F MY WAY!" Garfiel screamed at the Sword Saint as he charged him, determined to break through and kill the clown.

While their battle resounded, Felix is continuing to administer first aid to the still-bleeding boy.

"W-will Subaru-kun be a-alright?!" Rem implores the healer, as he continues to tighten the belts and patch up Subaru's wounds.

"Shut up! I'm working as fast as I can!" Felix yelled at the maid, making her quiet herself. If Felix were to lose concentration and make a mistake, it could cost the boy his life, he wasn't going to take any chances.

Felix continues to tear up his clothing and place them upon Subaru's wounds, but the bandages would fall off the moment he relieves the pressure put on them. He quickly turns to Wilhelm and Felt who had arrived at the row they were in.

"Here, put pressure on the wounds with these!" He hands the two the ripped-up vestiges of his clothing and they immediately follow through with his instructions, applying pressure on the wounds where Roswaal and the oni twins could not.

---

Emilia stared up at the scene in front of her.

Subaru is hurt.

Who hurt him?

She immediately looked at Roswaal but her expectations were instantly betrayed. He's helping…?

It would be so much easier to think that Roswaal was the culprit in harming her knight, in kidnapping him. But yet he was, helping him along with Rem, Ram, Felix, and Felt.

"Subaru!" A voice next to her rang out. Crusch ran up the stairs, three steps at a time, and Emilia quickly followed her lead.

"Felix! Report!" Crusch ran up to the five around Subaru and called on her knight to explain the situation.

"...He's lost a lot of blood, Crusch-sama…" Felix grits his teeth while continuing to focus on clotting the blood on Subaru's arms. "He's slowly stabilizing, but the lack of blood to his arms will necrotize them if we don't remove the tourniquets… The problem is that, without the tourniquets, he'll immediately die from blood loss."

"..." Crusch didn't respond, but instead immediately started helping put pressure on Subaru's arms. She wouldn't allow him to die, not after everything he's been through.

Emilia immediately does the same, not even bothering to talk to Roswaal about what happened; more important things are at stake here. Her eyes shift down to the bloodied makeshift bandages. Subaru's arms are covered in them, from his hands to the top of his elbow. She grimaced at the thought of what his arms looked like before the bandages covered the wounds.

If only I had magic…! Both users of water magic lamented their inability to heal Subaru, if they still had the ability to use it, then his life wouldn't be in danger in the slightest.

---

Garfiel panted heavily as each of his attempts to break through the Sword Saint ended in failure. Reinhardt wouldn't hurt him, and would only force him back to the same position every time that he charged him.

"Have you calmed down?" Reinhardt asked him as his constant barrage of attacks slowed to a crawl.

"Tch, yeah… right!" Garfiel rushed towards the Sword Saint once more. Reinhardt sighed as he held up one hand to block any attack Garfiel would throw at him.

Garfiel ran up to Reinhardt, poised to strike him with his fist. However, the fist never came, as Garfiel instead jumped to the row above the both of them, trying to move around the Sword Saint.

Reinhardt quickly followed him. He wouldn't allow Garfiel to interrupt anything the Margrave and the others were doing. If Garfiel made a mistake in striking the margrave and had jostled Subaru to the point that his wounds opened back up… It would certainly not end well. Reinhardt also had doubts that Garfiel would even be able to think about controlling himself, as he was attempting to attack Roswaal in a blind rage.

Seeing Reinhardt land between himself and Roswaal once more, Garfiel quickly ripped one of the chairs out of the row and threw it at the Sword Saint.

Ever since he was born. Reinhardt was intimately loved by the world, granting him divine protections whenever they were needed. He had a divine protection for everything a battle required, but no one could beat him even without them. One such protection was immunity for projectiles, making every projectile thrown at him miss no matter what unless it was impossible for them not to hit.

When the chair struck him in the face, he was thoroughly shocked. Such a thing had never happened to him before, and he didn't react in time because he had no doubts that his divine protection would've activated. He was unharmed, of course, but the chair wasn't thrown with the intent to harm him.

Garfiel used the chair's debris as a way to rob the Sword Saint of his vision, hiding behind the debris when it exploded against the Sword Saint's face.

Reinhardt felt wariness that he hasn't felt in an incredibly long time. If one of his divine protections didn't work in this space, then perhaps none of them will. Including the ones that warn him of attacks that are coming. Therefore, Reinhardt was just a superhuman that had temporarily lost one of his senses to an opponent.

If Reinhardt had known if his divine protections couldn't work in this space, he wouldn't have ever allowed such a disadvantage in the first place. Anxiety pierced his heart, and he looked behind himself to where Subaru was, worried that Garfiel might've made it past him.

Garfiel wasn't there, nor was he anywhere in that direction. Reinhardt had made a critical mistake. He's still behind the chair…!

Reinhardt felt the chair's remains fly past him, thankfully missing Subaru and the others completely.

Quickly turning back around, time seemed to slow even further when he realized that Garfiel's fist was about to connect with his jaw. If Reinhardt dodged, then Garfiel would use that to his advantage and follow through with his speed to Roswaal. But if Reinhardt took the attack, he would be sent flying.

Reinhardt is still just a normal man, made up of the normal weight. Without his divine protections rooting him in place against such an attack, an attack that wasn't futilely trying to deal damage, but instead trying to buy a few seconds by sending Reinhardt to the other side of the room would be meaningless.

Therefore, Reinhardt made his decision. Sorry, Garfiel.

He dodged that seemingly undodgeable attack, making Garfiel grin as he'd finally break through the Sword Saint's defenses. But that's just his wishful thinking, Reinhardt would never allow the slightest chance of Subaru being harmed even further, even if it meant having to hurt someone else.

"GAH!" Garfiel lost all breath in his lungs as Reinhardt finally attacked him with the intent to incapacitate him.

Reinhardt kicked Garfiel just below the ribcage as a counter-attack, sending Garfiel crashing down to the first row of chairs, the shockwave resounding throughout not just the theater, but the other rooms as well. Reinhardt bit into his lips in regret at having to attack Garfiel, it only worsened when Garfiel's form was struggling to breathe.

"Ah!? Garfiel?!" Otto finally entered the room and immediately saw Garfiel crash into the floor in front of him. "Are you okay?!"

He runs next to Garfiel and looks at him in concern, unsure of what to do. Garfiel shook his head at Otto, still unable to catch his breath. He didn't need help, Reinhardt had held back enough to not deal any lasting damage.

"A-alright, if you say so… But what happened…? Who a-" Otto turned his attention to the attacker, and laid his eyes on Reinhardt. His eyes widened at the mere prospect that Reinhardt was hostile against Garfiel, but seeing the regret in the Sword Saint's eyes, he immediately reconsidered. There must've been a reason for their fight…

And then Otto laid his eyes on the reason.

---

"Haaah…" Felix let out all of his stress as he undid the tourniquets and saw Subaru's discolored arms slowly fill back up with color, though it was still deathly pale. "As long as no one moves him, he should be fine."

"How long do we have to wait to move him?" Crusch asked her knight.

"The cuts were pretty deep… We should be able to move him after a few days and we're able to wrap him in some actual bandages." Felix sat down in a chair next to Subaru and looked down at the remains of his clothes. His dress was absolutely torn to shreds, leaving Felix practically in his underwear. But he was fine with it, if his dress was the price needed to save Subaru's life, then there's no question what he'd do.

"Roswaal." Emilia turns to the clown who was still holding onto Subaru's arms. "I'm going to believe what Ram said earlier, but I need you to explain everything that happened."

"Emili-" Ram tries to answer for him.

"No Ram. I need him to explain it." Emilia wouldn't take any chances of Ram painting Roswaal in a better light or blaming things on herself. "Roswaal, from the moment you woke up, explain everything."

Reinhardt jumped down to their row, intent on hearing his explanation. Otto, carrying Garfiel, also entered the row, wanting to hear any excuse the Margrave had.

"..." Roswaal slowly let go of Subaru's arm to see if it'd start bleeding again. When it didn't he stood up and faced the group. "I suppooose I must start from the beginning…"

"You seeee, I and my maids have put themselves on a strict schedule. From the mooooment we realize we're conscious, we get out of bed and begin our duties. This place hasn't changed that in the slightest. However, today, Rem noticed something… wrooong. Subaru-Kun was missing from his bed, leading us to believe one of you had taken him and wanted to sleep with him. Which isn't anything to worry about, as all of you are quuuuite adamant about protecting and caring for him. The problem lies within one tiny deeeetail:

The door was unlocked."

Shock pervaded throughout the group. The door that was the entrance to the room that they were sleeping in could only be unlocked from the inside. Therefore it was someone within their group that must've taken Subaru and wounded his arms.

"You maaaay all think that one of you had taken Subaru-Kun and tore up his arms in the theater, far away from everyone else. But all of you were still in your beds. Every last one. Not a person within the room was missing, other than Subaru-Kun. Do you seeeee what that means?"

"But what about the wounds on his arm?" Wilhelm asked Roswaal, Subaru must've been with someone else to have been so wounded. "Maybe someone within the room took him out and then came back in?"

"Mmmmm… That may be soooo, but if the door can only be locked and unlocked from the inside. Why would the peeerpetrator leave the door open to attract attention to where Subaru-kun was?" Roswaal brought up his counter-argument. "Beeeesides, the one who wounded him was none other than himself, after all."

"Margrave Mathers! If you're making that up…!" Crusch's face contorted in rage at what the clown was suggesting, but-

"He's right, Crusch-sama." Felix himself stepped in and affirmed what Roswaal was saying. "There's skin and muscle underneath Subaru's fingernails. And the wounds themselves were made by scratching."

"...But that means…!" Otto's brain put together the pieces of information first. "Subaru… woke up!?"

"Big bro woke up!?"

"After all this time?!"

"Subaru…? Woke up? But he didn't wake any of us up?"

"But if cap'n woke up… Why is he out her' an' why did he hur' himself!?"

"That's the problem, you see. Why isn't he still awake? I've got nooooo clue." Roswaal shook his head at the absurdity. Subaru didn't wake any of the people that were sleeping in the same room as him, but instead opted to leave and claw up his own arms? Roswaal had an answer for that, too.

"Subaru-kun wasn't alooooone out here."

"You mean?!"

"Tch, was it ya'?!

"Roswaal-dono, please continue explaining your story." Wilhelm asked the clown to continue his own side of the story before things got too out of control.

"Mmmmm… Well, my maids and I were curious, you see. Where had Subaru-kun gone? Had he, at last, woken up? We travelled through the corridor and laid eyes upon the boy. Upon seeing his state, we all rushed to help him, and tried to stop his bleeding. Rem even tried to use healing magic, but that was of no use in this place. So I sent her to get help while me and Ram tried to stop his bleeding."

"But… that was just before all of us woke up…!" Felix's eyebrows furrowed in thought. All of them had woken up at around the same time…

"There's no more to the story." Roswaal ended his side of the tale. Not a thing he said brought weight to the claim that there was someone else in the room with Subaru while he was awake. "If you want to know why I know there was someone else in the room, simply look."

Roswaal pointed towards Subaru's armrest, specifically the cup holder, then to a chair next to his. Both of them held cups filled with a sort of fluid. Subaru's was barely touched, while the other was practically empty.

"There's two…" Otto pointed out the obvious, but it certainly drove home the point Roswaal was making. Two cups meant two people, especially if they're seated a chair apart.

"Haaah… haaaah… Betty… haaaah… is here…. I suppose..." The spirit had finally entered the room and ran up the steps. "What… happened, in… fact? What was… that big tremor…?"

She hadn't been able to see the state Subaru was in due to the group gathered around him. All she heard was a massive tremor due to Reinhart kicking Garfiel. Worry had built into her heart at the sounds and the need to know what happened.

"Beatrice, before I answer that question, miiight I ask what this is?"

Roswaal held out the cup to Beatrice, who took a quick sniff of the contents.

"That would be coffee, I suppose. Our sleeping quarters have things Subaru described in the past as 'coffee machines', in fact. Now where is h-" Beatrice quickly answered the question, before asking where Subaru was. Her eyes widening at the sight of his bandaged-up arms and deathly pale complexion. "SUBARU!"

Beatrice immediately rushes over to him and tries using a healing spell on him. But is interrupted by Roswaal grabbing her arm.

"Beatrice, if you waste mana expeditiously, you'll disappear." Roswaal spoke in a completely serious tone. One that seems to be coming out a lot in this theater. "Seeing my dear sister kill herself… Is something I don't want."

"...What… I suppose…?" Beatrice doesn't know if she heard right. Roswaal had hired assassins to kill her, but now… He's decided against that course of action? "But even so! Betty mus-"

"Great Spirit-sama, Subaru is stable for the time being." Felix told the spirit in case she decides against Roswaal's warning. "In fact, if you disturb him, his wounds may open back up."

"Ghhk-" Beatrice's head slumps downwards. Her worry is expected, but she doesn't want to make things worse for her contractor, especially in the precarious state he's currently in.

"Looks like the commoners have made a mess. Would you care to explain why you destroyed the area that I graciously share with you?"

"Looks like y'all had some sort of disagreement."

The other camps and their knights have shown up.

---

"Hoooh? A commoner fought the Sword Saint and withstood a blow from him? A shame mineself was unable to witness it."

Priscilla comments on the battle between Reinhardt and Garfiel. Reinhardt looks ashamed of himself for being unable to stop their conflict without striking Garfiel. Garfiel himself looks ashamed for not heeding Ram's words about Roswaal.

After everything is explained to them, Anastasia and her camp look around at the remains of what's happened between Reinhardt and Garfiel. A few of the chairs had gotten wrecked, and the chairs from the day before weren't fixed by some weird magic. Hell, even Anastasia's vomit from the previous day was still there.

"Looks like someone's gonna hafta clean this mess up." Anastasia said, looking at the two maids expectantly. "You two maids are well-versed in that, yeah?"

Rem and Ram's eyes widen before they stoop low into a bow. Without speaking a word, they start cleaning up the mess made from everything previously.

"Still, Natsuki Subaru not being alone leaves me quite anxious." Julius voiced his opinion. If someone had attacked him when he'd woken up and forced him to claw himself then none of them were safe. If Subaru were to die in this space, would his ability even work properly, if at all? "I suggest that we keep guards with him when we all go to rest at night. I volunteer for the job."

"I'd like to, as well." Garfiel huffs out his approval and wish. There's no way in hell he'll allow his captain to go through something like that again. Not if it's anything he has a say in.

"I agree with this idea. We mustn't allow Subaru out of our sights ever again." Crusch agrees with Julius' idea.

"Alright, let's go with that." Emilia nods her head in approval.

"You wouldn't have to go through with all that if you'd just caught the person responsible." Priscilla shook her head at their foolishness. They each knew that someone had wounded, or forced Subaru to wound himself, so why not go after them? Such a simple task would be easy for her. "And yet, here you commoners are, talking amongst yourselves about something you wouldn't need to do if you'd just done away with the problem entirely."

"Hah! We'd have done that already if we knew who it was!" Felt lets out a mocking laugh at Priscilla's words. "It was none of us in the green-haired one's room, so it's probably one of you guys that did it!"

"Oh? Do you think it's one of the merchant's members? Or did a commoner like you just insinuate that mineself was responsible for this!?" Priscilla snapped her fan shut with a look of disgust and anger on her face, waiting to see what Felt's answer was.

"No. Surprisingly enough, I think that you'd never be responsible for this, your knight however…" Felt trailed off, this time actually insinuating who she thinks did it.

"Haha! You think Aldebaran did this?" Priscilla laughs at Felt's accusation. "He doesn't do anything without mineself's consent, nor would he even think about doing so!"

"Felt-sama, would you please explain your reasoning?" Her knight asked her, confused on why she'd accuse Al. He may be suspicious because of his ties to Satella, and he's mentioned…his own death… Reinhardt's eyes widened.

"He's incredibly suspicious!" Felt snorted at her knight's naivety. No one had confronted him about this yesterday, not even Felt herself, but she'd be damned if she didn't today. "He wears a helmet all the time, he's connected with Satella somehow, he's mentioned dying in the same way that big bro does, and he's the only other one that'd know how to make this coffee stuff."

She spat out each of her words to the knight's face. His face was behind a helmet, as she's just said, so they couldn't see the reaction he had to her accusations.

"Tch, I don't have anything to say to you, brat." Al speaks uncharacteristically and turns around and starts walking away.

"Aldebaran." Priscilla commands him. "Come back here and explain why you didn't attack the boy, or I'll kill you."

Her knight stops, then turns back around and walks back into the circle, he didn't have the patience to argue, nor did he have his authority, so he wouldn't take his chances.

"Fine. I never hurt Natsuki Subaru because if I wanted, he'd be dead right now." He speaks with a tone of absolute confidence. No, with absolute certainty. If Al had decided to kill anyone in the room, except maybe Reinhardt, Julius, Roswaal, and maybe Wilhelm, he'd succeed, no matter how long it took. "Besides, there's no point in considering me being the culprit 'cause I'd never want to attack him anyway. He's the only guy I've met from my world, I'd be stupid if I wanted to hurt him."

"Maybe you didn't want to hurt him, but you were forced to." Otto chimed in. If both Al and Subaru were connected to Satella in some way, maybe he also held a restriction that he must always follow. "You're both connected to Satella in some way, right? Maybe you made him hurt himself because she forced you to?"

"What difference does it make? Using your reasoning, maybe Satella forced him to kill himself by clawing at his arms!"

"Are you also unable to explain anything about it without Satella hurting you?"

"Dude! I had absolutely nothing to do with this! Me and Satella have no such connection! How the hell would I be able to force him to shred up his own arms like that anyway?!"

"You two both share the same qualities. You're both from the same world, both know Satella in some way, both have some sort of 'death' ability… How could we not think this? You're both connected in too many ways for it to be coincidental. No one here even knows how to make this 'coffee'."

"Hahhh. You're right about us being similar, but I swear, I have no involvement with Subaru being attacked. I'm not going to keep talking about this, keep going after the wrong guy, I'm sure bro will be very happy about that."

"Yo-"

*BEEP*

FIVE MINUTES UNTIL AUTO-PLAY

"Oi! Where the hell are you going?!" Felt yelled at the masked knight, who was walking away.

"As much as I'd love to continue talking about this, I'd very much rather do something that I consider important, like watch this next viewing." Al said dryly, he was done with talking to her. Constantly getting harassed about something that he didn't do started to grate on his nerves.

"You can't just walk away from this!" Her continued shouts were heard from behind him as he started to walk up the stairs to the top row.

"Didn't you say you were gonna kill 'em if he didn't answer?" Felt looked over to the fiery princess.

"This was meant to cure my boredom, now something grander has appeared to sate mineself." Priscilla replied simply, and walked away to the top row.

After a few minutes of bustling and movement, everyone found their seats. The seating arrangement was peculiar, to say the least.

Next to Subaru was… Julius and Garfiel?

"I'm sitting next to my knight, thank you." Emilia commanded the purple-haired knight, gesturing for him to move elsewhere.

"My apologies, Emilia-sama, but I'm not moving, especially not for you." Julius replied simply. "You have a nasty habit of crushing and moving Natsuki Subaru's hands and body, if you were to do this while he's in this state… You understand my point, correct?"

Emilia stared at him with wide eyes, looking between Subaru's bandaged arms and Julius, she sighed and nodded, guilt welling up in her. Though she desperately wanted to be with her knight, she couldn't ignore what Julius had said. He was completely right, and for her to not understand that before ordering him to move… She grimaced at her immaturity.

"But what about Garfiel…?"

She looked at the young boy. Far younger than she is, and he has far more energy.

"Garfiel, I'm going to have to ask you to move for the same reasons as Julius stated. You move around far too much." A certain knight spoke with a sad smile.

"Tch!" Garfiel clicked his teeth as he left his chair empty for the Sword Saint, who quickly filled his place.

"I trust that you won't move Subaru in the slightest, Julius?"

"Of course. I'd be even more of a failure if I personally caused the death of a superior."

"..."

Reinhardt looked at his friend with sad eyes. He'd hoped that Anastasia would've set him straight, but it seems that her talking to him hasn't made him change his stance.

Sitting in the very top row(row 5) is Priscilla and Al, along with Roswaal and soon the oni twins, as they were still trying to make the three remaining rows as clean as possible.

In the second row, Felt sat alongside Anastasia and her camp. There were empty seats for the two maids left behind in Crusch's room as well.

Emilia, along with Crusch and Felix, sit in the same row as Subaru on Reinhardt's side. Garfiel and Otto sit next to Julius on his side. Beatrice and Wilhelm realized that there's no room for them, so they made sad little pitiful steps up to the top row. Beatrice turned back to Subaru, hoping to sit on his lap, but decided against it seeing the state her contractor was in. They both sit in silence on the side opposite of Roswaal, meaning they were next to Priscilla and her knight, who were in the middle.

"...Wait, who'll get Frederica and Petra?" Crusch's voice sounded out, noticing the absence of the two maids.

"I'll get the-"

"No."

Reinhardt immediately volunteered but Julius stopped him just as fast.

"If you leave your chair, someone will take it, Reinhardt."

"Tch." Crusch's plan was foiled by the Finest Knight, who saw through her clever ruse to sit next to Subaru.

"I'll get them, Crusch-sama." Rem bows her head and leaves to retrieve her fellow maids.

Ram, finished with her cleaning, walks up to the top row and sits next to Roswaal.

With that, silence filled the room, as each person thought about the previous viewing. Subaru had… changed in some way. Was he possessed? Did he decide to give up on everything?

"Why was Subaru so… Angry? In the last viewing?" Emilia questioned no one in particular. No one had an answer to her question. Except for one.

"Why else? Because you admitted to being a witch." Priscilla flatly states. "Once the boy learned that you were nothing but a witch taking advantage of him, he decided to kill you, as he should."

"That's…" Emilia didn't say anything to defend herself, Priscilla's words echoing in her skull. She knew Subaru wouldn't do that… Right? He said he loved her, but would those feelings remain if he thought that she was a witch?

"Emilia-sama, now's a good time to explain why you said that in the first place." Julius gave Emilia a window of explanation, one that she desperately needed to get out of the hole she dug herself into.

"W-well… I was talking to a… an acquaintance of mine, and I wanted to sas-talk her a little. A-and so I told her that I was a witch in order to get her to respect me…" Emilia meekly states, cringing more and she spoke out each word. Looking back, she had let her feelings get the better of her, and now she was going to bear the consequences of it.

"Fu- Fuhahahah! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Priscilla couldn't hold herself back at the half-elf's story. "Y-you-HAHA- said you were a witch-HEHAHAHA- BECAUSE YOU WERE TRYING TO BE RESPECTED!?"

Al was laughing along with her, as well as Roswaal and Beatrice, even a few others were trying to restrain the chuckles threatening to escape their mouths. Emilia's ears turned bright red as the embarrassment started to set in.

"She wanted to be, hehehehehaha! Respected! Hahaha!" Roswaal couldn't hold himself back from laughing. He respected a witch the highest a person can, and yet even he knew how bad of an idea it would be to use the title of 'witch' to gain respect. Not a single person would respect her any more than before, not even actual witches.

"You're all laughing at something she obviously regrets doing. I implore you all to stop immediately." Julius speaks above all the laughter in a cold voice. "It's rather cruel to laugh at a genuine mistake."

"Says you," Al points out Julius' hypocrisy. "You ranted about how you were such a failure yesterday, and you even attacked your friend. Attacking yourself is one thing, but attacking someone else because you hate yourself is another. It's rather cruel to do that, wouldn't you think?"

"..." Julius doesn't respond. Al's absolutely correct in this situation, but Julius doesn't care much. He's too occupied thinking about how the screen will show him how much he failed everyone again.

And, as if the writer got tired of writing pre-reaction shit, the screen-

Auto-Playing…

The screen brightened to reveal Ram, dressed in the same manner of clothing that Subaru was in, in the previous viewing. She turns to Subaru and speaks to him as they were in the middle of a conversation. "Anyways, it's best not to jump to any conclusions. We should wait for Emilia-sama and Beatrice-sama to return. Once Emilia-sama and the others come back-"

"Nee-sama! You're wearing something new!" Rem beamed at her sister on the screen. She wasn't dead and she was actually holding a conversation with a… normal(?) Subaru.

"Seems that we don't need to worry about seeing as much horror as the last viewing." Reinhardt nodded his head at the good sign. Ram speaking about the others also clues him in on the fact that no one is dead… At least not yet.

"Still, tis' a strange place to start the viewing." Anastasia cocked her head, seeing how Subaru and Ram were in the middle of a conversation. "It's almost as if someone doesn't wan' us to see what the topic in the beginning was..." (Author's note: *Looks at camera*)

"I don't think that maaaatters too much." Emilia turned while still smiling. Her Subaru was finally back. She didn't want to think about how the previous viewing's Subaru was so alien to the one that she knows. "I think it's best if we just enjoy the calm atmosphere."

We can continue our discussion on what to do with Louis. Subaru's thoughts are projected through the screen, as they did many times before. However, that conversation would never happen as-

"Does anyone here know a 'Louis'?" Finding the name unfamiliar, Wilhelm asked the group about this unknown person.

"Na'." Ricardo thinks for a moment and shakes his head. "Mayb' it was that unknown person from las' time? 'he one we didn't know?"

"You may be correct…" Wilhelm sits back and looks back at the screen, trying not to remember the scene of the corpse with a smashed head.

*BOOM* An explosion rocked the entire tower. Subaru let out a gasp as he and the others got launched into the air, their bodies crashing into the ceiling and walls. "N-no way…"

"AH?!" Rem's eyes shot open from the sudden impact and Subaru and her sister being launched into the air.

"Isn't this a bi' too familiar?!" Garfiel shouted out in shock and deep concern. "Is it tha' bitch of Envy?!"

"So much for a calm atmosphere." Al says dryly to the half-elf who was too shocked to even contemplate his retort.

"Patrasche! Take Ram-!" Subaru screamed with fear deep within his eyes, his face contorting into one of despair as he grabbed and threw Ram towards Patrasche in one fluid motion when he landed.

"He's sacrificing himself…" Ram bit down on her lip. "That idiot…"

"He's not sacrificing himself! H-he'll figure something out!" Rem tried to reassure her sister, but her own voice betrayed her from the fear in her tone.

"To flee from Satella… You need to sacrifice something, don't you?" Roswaal looked to the side at the helmeted knight. "You said something like that, right? Al-kun?"

"He's a hero who won't give up anything, but Satella wants him personally…" Al shook his head at Subaru's unfavorable circumstances. If Al himself was trapped in that predicament… He may be trapped in a death loop for all eternity. "Damn it bro… Even running won't work if she's so obsessed with you."

"Then- Then what the hell can he do?!" Felt shouted at him, her eyes slightly crazed from the prospect of seeing Subaru be eaten by Satella.

"..." The helmeted knight didn't respond. He held no idea about the answer, the only thing would be to force her away. But to overpower the monster known as the Witch of Envy… Subaru had not a chance in hell of accomplishing that.

Patrasche gave a call in response to Subaru and grabbed Ram, who seemed to be extremely wounded from something. The ground dragon quickly rushed through the strange plant-like entranceway with Ram bemoaning Subaru's actions. "Barusu, that fool…!"

Anxiety pulsated throughout the room, growing and changing as the events on-screen continued to play out.

Seeing Patrasche take Ram away from him, he quickly sped towards an unconscious Rem, her body on top of a bed of ivy, and quickly picked her up and ran towards the same entrance the ground dragon escaped through.

"Get out of there, Natsuki-san!" Otto prayed for Subaru's escape from the not-appearing witch.

"She still hasn't made it up to him…" Reinhardt was in the same vein as Otto, hoping that Subaru would make it out of this.

"Even if he escapes the room, he wouldn't be able to escape the Witch on foot, especially with carrying the girl." Wilhelm shudders at the situation that Subaru has found himself in. He wouldn't be able to escape, and he was much stronger than Subaru…

The moment before he made it to the door, a figure fell beside him. A small blonde-haired girl, who looked out-of-place in this whole scenario. "-Hic! Aaah, Shit! SHIIIIIIT!"

"A child!?" Felix screamed out on first reaction.

"What is a child doing there?" Frederica's face contorted in thought. There was no reason for there to be a child in the tower unless she was someone that the group brought with them.

"That's incredibly suspicious." Felt huffed, trying to get her mind off the harrowing circumstances happening at that moment.

"I'm inclined to agree." Julius nodded along with Felt's words.

"Julius?!" Felix whirled and looked at the Greatest Knight with betrayal on his face.

"That child is someone none of us know, meaning she likely never went to the tower with Subaru." Julius laid out his thoughts. If even one of them knew who she was, it would take a heavy burden off of him. But no one did, meaning that the girl was an X-factor that couldn't have been accounted for beforehand.

Is the girl 'Louis'? The sage? Or something entirely different? It's simply not possible to come up with a conclusion with the information that they know.

Subaru reacted to seeing the girl's presence and used his battered body as best he could. He moved Rem over to his right arm and quickly picked up the girl with his left hand, violently ripping both of them with him towards the doorway.

"He's so hurt... " Emilia felt her hands reach up to her face in shock.

"Even more so than last time, I suppose." Beatrice pointed out. Previously he was battered a bit, perhaps he'd fallen from a decent-sized height, but now, he was completely covered in cuts and bruises.

"Satella still hasn't shown herself…" Tivey shook next to his sister, who was holding him tightly.

"I 'ope she never does." Garfiel muttered, eyes full of hatred for the one who forced his captain through all this.

"Such a wish… can never be granted."

At the moment before reaching it, a black shadow exploded in front of him, completely covering his only escape. Subaru quickly skidded to a stop with mania in his entire body. "RAM-!"

"FUCK!"

"SHE'S HERE!"

"Dammit! Subaru, get out of there!"

The shadow didn't heed his voice, nor his desperation. It continued to fill the room. It filled the entranceway, the floor, the ceiling, the front, the back, the left, and the right of Subaru. "Damn it… Even though, I've made it this far…!"

"Subaru!" Crusch shouted out in complete fear for his safety. If Satella truly is the reason for his revivals, then she most certainly has a way to keep him permanently with her.

"Is there nothing…? Not a single thing he can do!?" Roswaal bit into his lips, thinking of any possibility that Subaru had of death or escape. Finding nothing, he bit even harder, drawing slight amounts of blood. If he were to be taken by Satella here and now…!

"It's surrounding him on all sides…!" Reinhardt felt worry cascade in his body. Subaru was weak, he had no combat ability, and against one of the strongest creatures on the planet? Nothing he does could be a hindrance in any way.

The shadow that was swallowing the room grew closer and closer with each passing second, allowing no escape for the spiky-haired boy. Regret washing out all mania within his body, he had no chance of escape nor even the time to regret his actions.

"What can he do?! WHAT CAN HE DO TO GET OUT OF THIS?!" The blonde-haired thief started shouting around the room, desperate for a reassuring answer, she even looked towards her own knight for an answer.

"He can-" Reinhardt starts to speak, but his voice quickly trailed off. What could he do? He couldn't fight, he couldn't run, he couldn't rely on anyone to save Subaru from the Witch of Envy herself… Reinhardt's eyes widened, there was no answer to an unsolvable problem. Just as you are unable to open a lock without a key, Subaru is unable to do anything without allies on the level of Satella. "...Do...Nothing…?"

"Dammit! DAMMIT!" Felt ran her hands through her hair, getting it tangled. But that didn't matter in the slightest. If Reinhardt had no idea for Subaru to escape, then it was simply a fact that it's impossible. A human fighting another human is possible, but a human such as Subaru to face a calamity that destroyed half the world 4 centuries ago was impossible.

Horror and despair washed over the group

"BARUSU! SNAP OUT OF IT! REM WOULD CRY!" "-REE-REEE!" The voices of both Ram and Patrasche echoed from beyond the shadow, trying to get Subaru to continue moving.

"Please, Barusu. Just-" Ram felt anxiety claw in the depths of her mind. Subaru wouldn't give up, would he? He's died in horrible ways, but death was an escape for even worse circumstances. What worse circumstance could there be than getting swallowed by the Witch of Envy? Even so, she made her selfish request. "Don't give up…"

Roswaal's eyes were glued to the screen, watching each and every happening. He would witness the only path to his goal either disappear here or defy the minuscule odds of surviving and die in the moments before getting eaten.

"I-!" Subaru sucked in a deep breath before trying to shout. But the words never came out of his mouth as the shadow swallowed him entirely.

"SHIT! SHIIIIT!" Garfiel screamed in fear at the scene of Subaru's terrified face disappearing into the shadows. His entire figure was shaking, unable to muster up any courage to continue looking at the screen.

"Fuck…" Al muttered. He never allowed himself to be eaten by Satella, he wouldn't take the chance of being unable to escape so he always reset his position beforehand using his authority. Subaru's authority only allowed him to reset via death, something Al has a coinflip of deciding if he has control over his zone of authority. He pitied the hero who was in the same situation- No, in an even worse situation than his.

"What's next?! What's going to happen next?!" Crusch was almost crying from the intense hysteria flooding through her entire being. The one she loves was just eaten by the personification of despair; the Witch of Envy was a terror that wished to have Subaru at any cost, and she had just succeeded.

It was dark, dark, and swirly within that infinite darkness. What was once Subaru floated around aimlessly. Was it his face? His eyes? His body? It was him, yet not. It's an existence known as Subaru, but not what is Subaru.

"What…? What are we looking at?" The Greatest Knight couldn't believe his eyes. It was a deep darkness, a void, and yet he could feel that Subaru was alive.

"Inside…?" Reinhardt felt the core of his soul shake, as if a part of him had seen this before. "How could something so abhorrent…?"

"Subaru is… gone?"

"Maybe not, the screen is still playing… So I think there's a chance that he'll escape this."

"I hope you're right."

The group shared this sentiment.

"-I love you."

"Shut up, bitch." Felix felt nothing but rage and hatred towards that voice.

What was once Subaru, responded to the declaration. "So? It's way too forced, you know…"

"He's still there, he's… still himself…" Roswaal sighed a slight breath, the pain in his heart had slightly subsided at Subaru's voice.

"But can the boy die? Mineself sees no body for himself to stab." Priscilla questioned the air, since the screen was still playing, surely he would die and the next loop would begin, right? But this is inside of Satella, even something such as death may not exist within her being.

"-I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

No one in the group responded, the Witch was ignored. Or at least, they wished they could ignore her harrowing declarations of love.

"Sorry, can't give you an answer to that… That phrase is like a landmine to me right now. I've never been able to grab the hand of the person who said that to me…"

"Subaru…" Emilia shook in her chair, this wasn't supposed to happen, they… They were supposed to get their happy ending together.

"H-he just needs a way to escape, I-I suppose." Beatrice was in the same position as Emilia, she felt utter terror in every bit of her body, if not for the slight chance of Subaru surviving this, she would have broken down into tears and her mind would've fallen apart.

"He can't give… an answer?" Julius speaks quietly to himself, looking over the boy next to him. He isn't flat-out rejecting her? Why? He just seems… rather bored of her announcing her love…? The still-sleeping boy wouldn't move, of course. Nothing could wake him, even the wounds still afflicting his arms. The questions Julius held in his heart continued to pile up, he made a promise to himself that, when he could talk to Subaru again, he would satisfy every question, to determine why Subaru was better than him despite Julius being stronger than him, faster than him, having a higher standing than him, having more connections than him, everything. And yet… And yet Subaru was still better.

"-I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

"Is there no way for us to hear each other? Then… hurry up and consume me." The voice that was Subaru's, yet not, sounded bitter. Like everything was just within reach, yet got ripped away at the last moment.

"NO!" Rem screamed out. If Subaru was still himself because of the Witch's fancy, then goading her into permanently killing him was absolutely insane.

"WHY, BARUSU?!" Her sister was in the same thought, there was no reason to put yourself in a worse position. Especially when that position is a complete death, one that there would be no do-overs.

"Has he… gone through this before…?" A quiet voice that no one could hear.

"-I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID BITCH!" Felix screamed out at her words that seem to drone on for eternity.

Everyone in the room didn't want to hear another word from the Witch that they so despised, but she continued to speak the same three words.

"When I get back, the worst thing may be waiting for me. Louis, who would still have a clear head on her shoulders, might fight me again for my Return by Death ability."

Silence.

Subaru had an ability that was considered by all to be absolute. Every time he died he would, without fail, return in time. His mental state changed of course, but that was the only way he could die in any sense. They had all sworn to themselves that Subaru's predicament would not be allowed to continue, they would never allow him to die when he'd saved them countless times.

However,

If there was someone able to steal his ability; someone who was able to make him mortal by ripping away the one thing that was his, then their efforts may be completely meaningless. All that had to happen was one screw-up, one moment when they slipped up, and Subaru may die from another impossible circumstance, but he would be unable to come back.

He would die.

From his earlier words, it sounded as if he'd incapacitated the person named 'Louis', meaning he'd been able to defeat them without losing his ability. But if he fought them and made a single mistake…

Never. I'll never allow this 'Louis' to exist. Rem thought to herself. If her hero's weapon was stolen from him, it would feel like Ram's horn was sliced off her head all over again. She wouldn't be able to live with herself for allowing a single chance of that happening to exist.

It was a common thought in the room. If there was an enemy that could win, even against someone with the ability to return via their death, then the most logical solution would be to execute them.

They would feel no guilt, they would feel no remorse. Through what Subaru said earlier, they can infer that 'Louis' has already fought him for his ability. That squashed any sentiment that they might've otherwise had.

"-I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

"But, I'm not gonna lose. I won't lose. No matter how many times it takes, I'll keep fighting. This time, I'll keep my promise."

"...But… what can he do?" Emilia repeated herself. She could see no way for him to escape, he didn't even have a body to activate his ability.

"The boy has resolved himself." Priscilla understood his thought process and explained it. "Escape may not be a possibility. Therefore he's resolved himself to wait for eternity inside the Witch."

"H-he can't b-be…" Emilia shuddered out a breath that barely contained words.

"-I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

"-I'll fight for tomorrow's tomorrow, no matter how many times it takes."

"Not for how long it takes…?" Al murmured.

"A plan, perhaps?" Priscilla built upon her knight's words.

They sure hoped so. Subaru being trapped inside of the Witch for eternity is a fate worse than death. No one could think of a worse ending for the hero that saved them time and time again.

"-I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

"-I, am Volcanica. In accordance with the ancient covenant. I ask the will of thee, who hath reached the summit."

"Volcanica?!" Crusch shouted out.

"The dragon…" Roswaal fought back a grimace. Knowing the dragon's location was all well and good, but his plans for killing it were still underway.

"If the Divine Dragon-sama is there, then Subaru will be alright." Reinhardt nodded with a smile. The dragon was a hero from 400 years ago, he'd save Subaru and destroy the Witch, just as he did long ago."He will defeat the Witch like he did four hundred years ago."

"A helpful ally…" The same quiet voice.

In the next moment, it was as if a star had been born within that dark void. Pale blue light poured through what was once considered above, ripping apart the darkness. The world changed completely, everything was destroyed and remade at the same time.

"GOOD SHI'!" Garfiel cheered.

"Such overwhelming power…" Al felt chills crawl up his spine involuntarily. Seeing the Witch that had caused him so much trouble in the past get handled so easily was… rather vexing.

"Seems a bit… weaker than before, doesn't it?" Wilhelm remarked.

"What… do you meaaaan?" Roswaal almost forgot to use his speech quirk and quickly corrected himself.

"I once saw the Divine Dragon-sama use his breath after the demi-human war. It was powerful enough to vaporize another dragon that was summoned to destroy Lugunica. This breath seemed… lacking in comparison to the purifying light that it was before." Wilhelm recalled old memories whilst stroking his beard.

"You mean that the Divine Dragon-sama is weaker than 40 years ago?" Reinhardt asked in a quiet voice. If even the Divine Dragon himself were weakened, then outside forces may attempt to attack Lugunica… Reinhardt would be forced to be the trump card of the country… He shuddered.

"I'm not sure, but something has definitely changed." Wilhelm's brow furrowed in thought.

If the Divine Dragon was weakened, then Roswaal would definitely take advantage of that. This information is greatly beneficial, he'll kill Volcanica when he's weakened, a chance like this will likely never happen again.

"B-but Subaru was in there too!" Emilia shakily told Wilhelm, hoping for reassurance.

"Worry not, Lady Emilia, The Divine Dragon-Sama's breath purifies enemies and regenerates allies, I've seen it with my own two eyes." Wilhelm reassured the half-elf, telling her of the strange abilities that that breath attack holds.

She and a few others let out a shaky breath, Subaru was going to be okay. Well, as okay as he can be right now.

"Mmm…" The screen was black as Subaru groaned. He opened his eyes and the screen showed blurry images, showing his point of view. The scene before him slowly drew itself into recognizable shapes. Something was next to him, licking his cheek.

"We're seeing his view now?" The green-haired duchess pondered.

"Nyat seems to be the case, Crusch-Sama." Felix affirms her question.

"The Dragon must've turned him off and on again." Al spoke with a wry smile, happy that Subaru was able to get away without sacrificing a part of himself.

"What does that even mean?" Felt asked, flabbergasted.

"Otherworld reference, you wouldn't get it."

"Otherworld reference, you wouldn't get it, I suppose."

"Okaaaay then…" Felt shook her head, deciding not to waste any brainpower trying to decipher such code.

The group's atmosphere had changed drastically from the moment Subaru survived, perhaps this was the end of this loop? They certainly hoped so, and they hoped that no more loops were to come. The Divine Dragon had such an effect on the group, making way for light-hearted banter.

"Pat...rasche… I...Got it. I'm up. I'm awake...already…" Subaru sounded hollow as if his body was hollowed out and then filled with the contents a human should have. The other party didn't stop licking Subaru even after he spoke.

"Cap'n soun's like he's been put through a wringer." Garfiel said in a steady tone, not trying to sound hopeful in case something happens.

"At least he has a mouth to speak with." Otto replied with a similar tone for the same reasons.

"Tha's true."

"You're being such a sweetie… I bet you could win the next heroine contest with that cuteness…" He spoke once more to Patrasche. However, he got a response unbefitting the ground dragon. "Aaaah-ooh? Aaaaaaah...ooh…?"

"Alright, what the hell?" The thief-girl shouted out in exasperation. It's one thing after another with Subaru, for all she knew, this could be a witch that controls the world around them and she was making sounds an infant would. The circumstances surrounding Subaru are so weird that she'd just nod and accept it.

"Fairly certain ground dragons don't sound that way." Felix remarked from his vast array of knowledge regarding the subject.

"We still can't see anything… That may be something entirely different than a ground dragon." Reinhardt said with a completely serious tone.

"Gee, Reinhardt, you think? It sounds like an infant and you think it may be something other than a ground dragon?" Felt spoke each word with a thick layer of sarcasm, trying to get a reaction out of Reinhardt.

"..." Reinhardt bowed his head in shame.

"Oi. It was a joke." She didn't get the one she wanted.

Subaru still couldn't see very well, but his confusion was prevalent. The ground dragon was still licking his cheek, even more so after Subaru spoke. Subaru slapped his head, his vision got color and detail back. The thing that was licking him so furiously was-

"What."

"Wha'."

"Lolimancer."

Al and Ricardo start laughing their asses off, shouting, "He's got another one!" and "When will it all end? What's the limit, Subaru!?".

A small blonde-haired child, sitting on top of him, and licking his face. Subaru screamed and pushed the child away. The child let out an anguished cry as she flew into the grass around them.

"That's a little dramatic." Crusch remarked with a slightly despondent expression.

"NYAH! WHAT THE HELL, SUBARU-KYUN!?" Felix screamed loud enough to make everyone next to him look at him in surprise.

"If you woke up after being eaten by th' Witch of Envy an' then remade by the Divine Dragon, an' there was a small child liking your face, wha' would your reaction be?" Anastasia quickly admonished the catboy who decided to scream in the middle of the viewing for the simple reason of Subaru assaulting a small child. Wait.

"Nyah…" Felix bowed his head.

Subaru quickly slid backward letting out a confused voice. "Waah, what the! What, what the hell… Did I...die…?" He continued to stare at the child in front of him. The girl was lying on her back in the grass, shaking her arms and legs like a child, whining.

"..."

"..."

"His reset point is a child licking his face." Al spoke with a flat tone, before cracking and laughing obnoxiously.

"That's not funny." Said the half-elf with a slightly irritated expression.

"Nah, it is, you all are taking this too seriously. Just look around." Al pointed his arms to the screen and gestured to the entirety of what they could see through Subaru's eyes.

"...?" Emilia looked at it with a confused expression, still not understanding.

"Mine knight means to point out the grass. The Augria Sand Dunes have no such thing." Priscilla mentions with a slightly mocking tone. However, she was in a good mood, seeing Subaru not be in danger anymore means she'll bear witness to even more exciting things. "Mineself expects nothing from a witch who cannot even use her eyes."

"Oh. I guess I'm a dunderhead." Emilia smiles and taps her head. Priscilla snorted in response.

Subaru quickly realized that he wasn't in the tower any longer. He looked to his surroundings, trying to get a grasp on his location. "What, where...is this place…?"

"I be' he's in the Mather's domain." Ricardo gave his prediction of where Subaru was.

"I say he's in Laufau's highway" Felt joined in.

"Bet? What are you betting?" Al asked the obvious question, if you were taking bets, then there must be stakes involved, no?

"Uhh… Mimi." Ricardo looks around for a bit and moves his hands through his pockets. When he found nothing his eyes caught on the small girl next to him.

"MIMI ISN'T A THING YOU CAN BET!" Mimi screeched at him and stood up with her fists raised, clearly intending to put up a fight if Ricardo were to try and bet her.

Ricardo looks pointedly at Mimi's twin.

"Don't even think about it." Tivey warned.

"Got nothin'." Ricardo sighs.

"Well, I'm still gonna guess. He's near the Gladiator Island Gunenhive." Al said in a dejected voice, guessing isn't nearly as fun as betting.

"...Isn' tha' in Vollachia?" Ricardo looked to Al with a questioning look.

"You saying that the Dragon can't send him that far?"

"Nah, I'm sayin' ya need yar head checked."

Al snorts in response.

A lush green plains area, the complete opposite of the Augria Sand Dunes. There was even a forest further away. Subaru leans down and plucks a few blades of grass. "The grass seems pretty real. And it tastes like… Peh, peh! Grass!"

A few chuckles sounded out at Subaru's antics.

"Mmmm… The grass does seem to be grass, I suppose." Beatrice nods along with her contractor's priorities.

"Hehe, Subaru-Kun is funny even when he's alone." Rem giggles at her hero's antics.

"Wait, shouldn't you be there with him if the blonde-haired one is there too?" Ram turned and looked at her sister with a raised eyebrow.

"Subaru-Kun will protect me! There's no need to worry about anything if Subaru is there." Rem continues to smile. That's who her hero was, after all. Continuing to battle impossible odds, he'll come rescue her and everyone around her. Not a single doubt in her mind rose when thinking about it.

Subaru looked at the state of his clothing, and more importantly, the state of his body. It was still wounded, his clothes were still ripped up. He hadn't reset. He sighs a breath of relief, before suddenly stopping and looking around the clearing in a panic. "-That's right! Rem! Rem is…"

"He's rather carefree for someone who just survived the Witch of Envy." Wilhelm cocked his head in thought.

"Almost like he's already done it…" A quiet tone, impossible to hear.

Subaru quickly looked around for the familiar sight of the blue-haired oni maid. After a few moments of searching the low-cut grass, he came across her still-unconscious body. "Rem! Ah, this is great… What a relief, you're safe and sound…"

"Haaah…" Ram lets out a sigh of relief, seeing that her sister is confirmed to be alright.

"A troubling thought has occurred…" Reinhardt said with a conflicted expression.

"Shoot." Felt ordered her

"The reason why the blue-haired oni maid is unconscious is because of the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, correct?" Reinhardt continued his train of thought. "Then why is she still unconscious on-screen when she's conscious here?"

"Perhaps it's what woooould have happened?" Roswaal gives his opinion on what he thinks is the answer. "Previously, it showed the past, and now it's showing the future, correct? Then it cooould be showing the events that would've happened if not for what we're viewing nooow?"

"So it's showin' the past from a future perspective? Like how the future for us is th' pas' for someone in th' future?" Anastasia simplifies it for the simple-minded in the room.

"Indeeeed." Roswaal

"Y'know, I'm gonna jus' stick with seein' the future." Garfiel scratched his head in confusion at the conversation that was happening right in front of him.

"Same, I'm just supposed to write documents and manage finances, not think about mind-bending philosophy." Otto agreed with his brother.

"Otto-bro!" Garfiel quickly hugs Otto and they both start crying over their inability to understand time.

Subaru quickly checked Rem's physical state, confirming that there were no external injuries and she was still breathing. He gave a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off his brow. "Ah, there's nothing to worry about. Big sis would kill me if anything happened to Rem, anyways…"

"As if, death is too kind for what I'd do." Ram said in a faux threatening voice.

"Uhhh… Nee-Sama…" Rem cringed at her sister threatening Subaru, even if it was in jest.

"...Too soon?"

"Yeah…"

Kind or painful deaths are a sore spot for the viewers, especially when they have to do with Subaru's well-being.

"Then again…" Subaru started looking around once more. Not finding anything recognizable, he continued talking to himself. "Where is this place… where's the tower at? Where are Emilia-tan, Beako, and the others…?"

"Are we not going to talk about the tower?" Reinhardt questions the room.

The room stilled. Despite their laughs, the tower was still in the forefront of their minds. Both Satella and the Divine Dragon were there; the Sage, who was still unseen, was also supposed to be there.

Not even Reinhardt could make it through to the tower. So what were the events leading up to it? What happened to the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony? Where was the Sage?

They tried to hide such sources of anxiety through banter and barely succeeded, if anything were to happen to Subaru, cracks would surely show themselves.

There was nothing around him, only the plains and the forest that surrounded it. Subaru lifted his hands to his mouth. His hollow voice echoed around him, traveling in every direction. "EMILIA-! BEAKO! RAM-!"

"I doubt there's anyone other than him and the oni maid, I suppose." Beatrice states with certainty.

"And the child." Crusch pointed out.

"...And the child, in fact."

"Ooo, waaah!" The only voice that responded was the small child that was on top of Subaru earlier. Subaru stopped while looking at the child, the screen slowly losing all focus on anything but her.

"Oi, oi oi oi! Why's that happenin?!" Garfiel felt his anxiety start spiking. "Why's cap'n gettin' tunnel vision?!"

"We cannot see his face, much like when the boy was enraged at the witch cultists." Priscilla snapped her fan.

"He's angry with the child." Al told the others. It's been a while since he's gotten that angry, but he's developed tunnel vision before. "Though the only reason that I can think of is the child being 'Louis', the one who tried to steal his Return by Death."

"Then he's going to kill her?" Julius rhetorically asked, and then nodded with that line of thinking. "It would be best to rid yourself of such an enemy before they can complete their objective."

"That… isn't right!" Felix shouted at Julius and Al. "We don't know if she's 'Louis'! All we know is that Subaru is going to kill a defenseless child!"

"Perhaps this child is only defenseless because of Subaru-Dono's efforts." Wilhelm tries to placate him with a different line of reasoning. "If she truly was a great enemy, why would she act like this? The answer would be because she lost against Subaru-Dono."

"That's…" Felix didn't know what to say to that.

"Wilhelm-Dono, you seem to forget that Subaru could've left the child in the tower to the Witch of Envy, and yet he still saved her." Julius also found the flaws in Wilhelm's argument. "If she was so great an enemy, then naturally he would have left her to die, no?"

Wilhelm looked at the young knight and nodded along with his reasoning. "You are correct, my previous statement seems faulty with that brought to light."

"If she isn't 'Louis', THEN WHY THE HELL IS CAP'N SO MAD!?" Garfiel's shouting brought the conversation back to its original topic.

"..." No response came. No one truly knew why, the information they held was too little to make an educated guess.

They braced themselves for the incoming moments.

Subaru slowly got up, as if he only had one option with what to do with the child. But something changed his vision at that moment. A slight tug on his body. "-Eh?"

"Something grabbed him?" Emilia breathed a sigh of relief. "Something stopped him."

"But there isn't anyone close to him except for the grass and…" Ram's eyes slowly widened. She turned her head and faced her sister, who was still confused. "And Rem…"

Realization spread throughout the room like a wildfire, not a single person spoke with the realization in mind.

He stopped moving, he stopped standing up. He stopped completely, it even stopped his heart for a brief moment. His body quickly resumed its movement, however, as he started to violently shake. He slowly looked down at the person below him. "-Ah."

Emilia's heart pounded.

Ram's eyes wavered.

Rem sat completely still.

Garfiel had a bright smile.

Otto nodded his head with his eyes shining.

Frederica's mouth was agape.

Petra jumped out of her chair and did a little dance.

Roswaal nodded his head with a sly smile.

Beatrice shrugged her shoulders, but she was unable to stop a smile from reaching her lips.

Puck wasn't there.

The three knights each relaxed with a smile, knowing that Subaru deserved this.

Felt stifled the urge to jump out of her seat.

Al was expressionless.

Priscilla nodded in affirmation.

Crusch wiped her eyes.

Wilhelm felt pressure fill his body.

The cat twins were shaking in their seat in excitement.

Ricardo stopped the twins from bursting from their seat.

Anastasia rubbed her eyes to make sure what she was seeing was real.

Her eyes opened, her eyes were blue. Her body moved on its own, without any help. It was an impossibility without a lot of effort being put forth into making it happen. Those slight movements were the product of untold persistence, a persistence even through death. "Re…"

"She woke up…" Emilia gaped.

"He… did it." Otto pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"YEAH! YA DID IT, CAP'N!" Garfiel cheered, and others quickly joined in.

The room quickly became loud with cheers and praise. Ram hugged her sister. Ricardo let the twins loose. The candidates each smiled for the boy's efforts being rewarded. Wilhelm shook in his seat, seeing someone actually recover from the sleeping beauty disease.

The anxiety in the room had disappeared completely.

"-Rem." Subaru slowly looked over her body, which was moving by itself. "Rem, Rem… Remm, Remm… Re...m… REM!"

"So, even without coming to this place… Rem still would be woken by her hero." Rem wore a deep smile.

"A hero with yet another thing that he'll cling onto." Al's voice came from next to her.

"Yes, but he'll protect Rem, and everyone else again and again if he has to." Rem didn't even look at him. "That's who Rem's hero is, after all!"

Al shook his head. There would be no getting through to the delusional.

The screen became blurry as Subaru started to cry. Each time that he called her name, more and more tears welled up into his eyes. He quickly wiped his face, which was certainly covered in both snot and tears, in order to see the girl clearly.

"I wonder how long it's been since he's seen her moving." Julius ponders, not really expecting an answer.

"Too long." Reinhardt responded from next to him.

Julius sighed and nodded. What a fool he was for even considering how long she's been asleep when the correct answer was 'Too long'. He still had a ways to go before being good at banter.

"-Ah." The girl blinked silently. Her lips were moving, but only weak sounds came out. This was no illusion made by a broken mind, Rem was well and truly awake.

"Re...m...It's fine. It's okay, so take your time…" Subaru had a begging tone to his voice. He didn't want her to overexert herself when she'd just woken up as it sounded like her throat was so dry that it'd crack from too much stimulation.

"She sounds like she was just in the middle of the Augria Sand Dunes or sumthin'." Ricardo states in confusion.

"That's because she literally just wa-" Felt quickly realized her mistake, but it was too late, she had fallen for his trap.

Ricardo starts laughing while holding his midsection, prompting chuckles from all the knights.

"Reinhardt." Felt's eyes held rage never before seen in the history of the world.

"Yes, Lady Felt?" Reinhardt was instantly by her side. He knew that she meant business.

"Bring him to me."

"Very well."

In the next moment, Ricardo was prostrating himself in front of Felt's seat with an apologetic look.

Anastasia didn't even look at him, he completely deserved it.

Her lips continued moving, but produced few coherent sounds. Subaru quickly looked around, searching for a water source that he could give her. Finding nothing, he looked back at her, moistening her mouth and lips with her saliva. "...Rem?"

"She's about to speak to him for the first time in aaages." Emilia said in a sing-songy voice.

"He's put forth so much effort, I suppose. Betty's contractor truly deserves such a reward, in fact." Beatrice nods in satisfaction.

"My son could learn a thing or two from you." Wilhelm said to the bouillon the screen who was able to accomplish one of his long-held wishes.

Reinhardt's head snapped up and looked at Wilhelm with an incredulous expression on his face. His father and Subaru were polar opposites, they held very few similar traits.

"Well, if he can't wake up Louanna on his own, we'll have to help him, isn't that right, Reinhardt?" Wilhelm looked to his grandson with a grin.

"Yes, of course. There'd be nothing else I'd want more." Reinhardt stopped and considered for a moment, before repairing his previous statement. "Except putting Felt-Sama on the throne."

Wilhelm laughed. "If you put her on the throne, you'd get access to the dragon blood, no? You could use that for your mother's disease."

Reinhardt blinked for a moment, putting all the pieces together. "Oh."

"You weren't thinking of anything selfish when you wanted to put Felt-Sama on the throne, were you?" Wilhelm looked at his grandson with an expression that said 'Seriously?'

"That's what I'm saying! Reinhardt, ya gotta be more greedy!" Felt fervently egged Reinhardt on.

"Of course, Felt-Sama."

"You say that everytime."

"Please forgive me, Felt-Sama."

"You say that everytime too."

This talk goes on for a little longer, but both of them were quickly ignored by the others.

Ram waits for her sister to speak her first words to the waiting Subaru. She doesn't know how long it's been for Subaru since Rem was eaten, but it's an undoubtedly long time. He deserves it, though she hasn't seen him do anything on the screen, she doesn't need to. He wouldn't stop until he woke her, and now he's finally succeeded.

Rem leans forward, waiting to see what she'll say to her hero, most likely gratitude. Maybe she'll jump on him with a hug, or maybe she'll-

"-Who...are...you?"

"Eh…?" Rem felt her entire body grow cold. She was supposed to hug Subaru, or maybe just greet him if she was confused enough. But it wasn't like that.

It wasn't like that at all.

After everything, everything that Subaru must've done to get her back, she greets him with that?

Who are you?

Rem feels her heart compact itself, incredible pain floods her body from her chest. If she wasn't sitting down, she would've assuredly fallen to the ground. Her breaths come through in short spasms, never seeming to fill her chest. Cold sweat rolled down from her forehead, it felt as though her body was falling apart.

Her sister quickly went to her side and hugged her. But Rem couldn't register her presence. It felt wrong. Everything felt wrong. Nothing was right. Why? After everything he's done? He deserves more than this. I never wanted this, why couldn't I have just run from Gluttony? He wouldn't have had to feel this. His reward for his effort is but more suffering? More agony and pain to feel because of me? It's my fault. But he's not going to show it, will he? He'll just smile and bear the pain himself. He'll try and hold it in, he'll go on another quest, another adventure full of strife and terror, just to get her memories back. Just to have her back. It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair.

Rem didn't shed any tears. It felt as though she couldn't. She wanted to pour them out, to let out this pain in her chest, but she was unable to do so. Her body shook. And shook. And continued shaking. Every muscle in her body fired off at random intervals, desperately trying to get warmth into itself. But she was cold.

So cold.

"Rem! Rem, look at me!" Ram yelled into her face with no response. She shook her shoulders, but to no avail. Ram even lightly slapped her face but there was no recognition in her eyes.

"It's just like before…" Ram whispered, thinking back to the time when, in this very room, Rem had a breakdown at the reveal of terrible truths.

Rem's body was cold to the touch. Ram shivered as her body's warmth was vanishing by simply touching the freezing girl. Ram brought her sister into a deep hug. Don't worry, your big sister is here…

None in the room were fairing as bad as Rem, but they weren't in the best of shape, either.

Emilia clutched her legs to her chest, silently weeping, as the anxiety and fear from earlier finally broke through the surface of her emotional barrier.

"Tch." Garfiel clicked his tongue and bit into his lip. His Captain was strong, no doubt about that, but the turmoil flowing through him must be excruciating. But even so, Garfiel believed in him, because not one other person can do what his captain does.

"She's… just like me…" Crusch shook her head with a mournful expression. Both her and Rem had fallen to Gluttony at the same time, but Crusch only lost her memories. Rem had lost everything, her very existence was questioned by the people who were supposed to know her best. Now that Rem's woken up, she must also go through the same treatment as Crusch did.

Subaru was truly cursed, wasn't he?

Priscilla shook with fury in her seat. In her mind, those who work the hardest, and produce the best results deserve the very best in their lives. A good house, family, food, entertainment; in short, those who are the peak of humanity, deserve the best life. However, someone like Subaru, who is the best person she's seen in a long time, didn't get that reward. If you don't work, you don't eat. That is the essence of this belief. How much you contribute dictates what you end up with.

Those that work the hardest, contribute the most, and make the most out of their situation will receive that which is earned. This result spits on that. There is no reward here. Only another job to work to see what you want earned. It's revolting.

"You know, that's what happens to those that seek happiness through others." Al muttered quietly to himself. Al had made that mistake in the past. If you get attached to someone, it just means that you need to extend yourself further, and while it might be okay to protect one or two people, Subaru has too many.

Sooner or later, one of them will die. And he will be unable to do anything about it. Al sighed and shook his head. Subaru would never listen to him about this sort of thing anyway, he hasn't experienced one of the people he's trying to protect dying permanently.

-Who are you? Played in Subaru's mind. He stared at her face, before kneeling down and quickly exhaling a harsh breath from his lungs. He started hitting himself on his chest, trying to get his emotions in check.

"This… isn't…" Felix felt a torrent of negative emotions build in his chest.

"How could this happen?" Julius couldn't believe what he just heard and immediately turned towards Felix's location. "Felix! How can someone wake up but not have their memories?!"

"No one has ever woken up from the sleeping beauty disease..." Felix gritted his teeth and met Julius' eyes. "Crusch-Sama lost only her memories, but she only regained them when she came here…"

Julius clenched his fist tightly around his armrest. Felix obviously wouldn't know anything about this, he would never have left Crusch without her memories if he did. He was being unreasonable, he knew that, yet… This room… This place is a curse to all who enter it.

"I-I just wish I could…"

"We all do, we all want to change this." Reinhardt told of the consensus that the group has each made in the depths of their hearts. "Seeing Subaru in such pain… But we can't change it, not yet. We must observe and etch it into our souls in order to change it when we get out of here."

The three knights steeled themselves and continued watching.

Moments continue with Subaru being unable to focus on anything, including Rem. His heart continued pounding in his ears, and his vision was blurry from tears. However, his mind still functioned normally, he looked up at Rem, hearing her voice from long ago. Please show me how awesome you can be, Subaru.

"-My name is Natsuki Subaru."

Those who were weeping looked up in stiff shock. He reintroduced himself? He didn't despair, nor did he agonize. Instead, he opted to just… take it for all it's worth?

The knights each felt their eyes widen, then their faces broke out into smiles. No matter what, Subaru was still Subaru. His tenacity is truly something to behold.

However, one person in the room felt greater despair at those words. Rem had guessed this course of action, Subaru desired to see the people close to him to not feel pain nor despair. But he never accounted for himself.

Rem's chest continued to constrict her breath, I never wanted my happiness to come at the cost of yours… Please don't continue to burden yourself with me.

But those wishes could never have an effect on the past.

The screen finally switched from first person to show both Rem's and Subaru's faces. Subaru wasn't in despair, nor was he wearing an anguished face. He was smiling, smiling at what he'd finally gotten back. "You may not be able to remember it for now. But… I'm…"

"Betty's contractor… is the best, I suppose." Beatrice struggled with her emotions. She felt despair but hope grew when she saw Subaru's outlook.

"Subaru is the strongest person I know." Emilia smiled at Subaru not falling into despair. Even if her eyes are covered in tears, Subaru was bright enough to ensure that she wouldn't lose sight of him.

"You… are…" Rem's gaze bored into his eyes, making them widen a little. He shut his eyes tightly for a moment, trying to build his composure back from zero.

Rem continued to listen.

His eyes opened and were reflected in her light blue eyes.

"I'm… your hero. -I've missed you, Rem."

And, at that moment, understanding finally occurred in Rem's head. Something that has plagued her has been Al's distaste for Subaru trying to save everything close to him. Rem thought it was baseless, just something that someone who is jealous would do.

But distaste for Subaru's desire slowly permeated through her body. He wasn't going to stop, he was completely obsessed with that idea, that he'll save everyone close to him, that he'll throw away his own desires except for that one.

She didn't want him to throw away his humanity to become a hero.

"Real smooth there, eh?" Ricardo laughs out.

"Well, he is collecting women left and right, even when he's convinced no one's looking." Al shrugged. "A good guy always gets the girl, huh?"

"Cap'n deserves it though!" Garfiel said with a wide smile.

"That he does!" Ricardo continues to have a joyous tone.

Subaru pulls Rem into a tight hug; his face contorting as to not break down crying in her presence. Rem had a slightly adverse reaction, her eyes widened at his act of compassion, though she still looked as if she were still half-asleep. "...Ah… Um…"

"Uh… Rem, what would you do if some random person told you they're your hero and immediately hugged you?" Frederica slowly asked her fellow maid.

"...I'd force them to talk about everything." Rem spoke with a cold tone. No, rather it was empty, like she was devoid of all warm emotions, and had frozen over all negative emotions. She softly moved her sister, who was still hugging her, to the side in order to speak clearly. "A maid needs all information, if a maid is in a position with no understanding, she must take the most information the quickest possible way."

"You're going to kill the boy again?" Priscilla questioned the maid.

"No, the dead cannot speak. And… I hope that I won't be forced to see that again…" Rem opens her heart for a moment, and like a torrent, waves of anger, despair, depression, self-hatred, and other negative emotions pour out. She quickly shuts it into her heart once more.

"How truly barbaric, ripping information out of a bystander because it's your kinds 'code'." Priscilla spat out each word. "Besides, that Archbishop eats all memory, correct? Therefore it's not your 'code' that you'll follow, but rather your own belief of what must be done."

"T-that's..." Rem stared wide-eyed at the fiery princess. She started shaking her head in denial of what Priscilla said, but her chest continued to tighten around her heart. That's all that she needed to understand that she was correct.

"P-please forgive me, P-Priscilla-Sama…" Rem bowed her head to Priscilla, her forehead resting on Ram's shoulder. But she wasn't truly seeking forgiveness, she didn't care about Priscilla's opinion in the first place. She just didn't want to look at the screen that'll show a decision made from the basis of her as a person.

However,

"Hah! You think mineself wishes to see you grovel at mine feet? How utterly repulsive." Priscilla continues to mock the maid. One who tortures and murders the person they love isn't deserving of such an honor. "Instead, you must witness the next event."

"...Eh?"

"Look at the screen, girl, and witness the consequences of your inability."

And so, Rem shakily looks back at the screen, feeling the barrier that she hastily constructed around her heart waver.

"Yeah, exactly, that's exactly it, Rem. I'm your Hero. I've been waiting so long for…" Subaru nods vigorously, trying to get her to understand what he just said. However, after her continued silence, Subaru's worry crept onto his face. "Rem?"

No one spoke. No one made any jokes. And no one wanted to see what happened next. But to etch unto their soul their mistakes, they continued watching.

Rem continued trying to talk, perhaps her mouth was still dry from her sleep. Subaru's eyes opened a little in understanding, moving his head close to her mouth as a way to prevent her from needing to strain her voice. "I'm listening, there's no need to rush it, okay? Rem, what are you trying to…"

"Don't get close to her, idiot!"

"Get away from me!"

"Dumbass."

Rem pushed her hand up to his face, and pushed him over onto the ground, his back on the ground. Rem quickly moved on top of him and started scanning his body from top to bottom, trying to determine something. "...Re...Rem?"

"W-why is she looking at him like that?" Otto's voice shot up an octave.

"She's confused, she doesn't know who she is!" Ram quickly gave an excuse as to what her sister's doing.

Ricardo and Frederica cover the eyes of the young ones next to them as a precaution of what's going to happen next. They were unsure if they themselves wished to see it.

"What's your aim here? Tell me what you intend to do to me right now!" Her knees pressed down on Subaru's shoulders, her hands shot to his neck. Subaru was completely helpless from her strength. "Calling yourself some Hero out of the blue and… Who's Rem? Tell me right now!"

"O-oi! Ya can't get information like tha'!" Garfiel shouted in a shaky voice. "Let cap'n go!"

"You're going to kill him because you don't know anything?!" Crusch felt unrest grow within her heart as she saw more and more of Rem choking Subaru.

Rem sits still, watching her counterpart suffocate Subaru. A small voice came out of her throat as if questioning her very character. "I'm going to kill him…? Just because… of that…?"

Crusch stared at her, and when she didn't say anything else, gritted her teeth and looked back at the screen.

"Gu… ah…. Ghk…" Subaru struggled underneath her grasp, but was unable to escape her. He reached up to her hands around his neck, but was still unable to free himself. She continued ordering answers from him. "If you refuse to speak, I will simply continue until you desire to do so. Please do not prolong your own suffering. Speak. What exactly are you…"

"STOP CHOKING HIM, THEN!" Felix screamed in rage at the unfairness of her demands.

"Seems that you're also a complete fool as well." Priscilla snapped her fan shut, her eyes held incredible rage in them. Demanding things that you know are impossible is one thing, but demanding things that are impossible while you think they're possible is the height of hubris.

Otto held his head in his hands and spoke in a weak voice. "Why is this happening…?"

"This…" Frederica couldn't answer him with any reassurance.

"That oni has been shown to be a loose cannon time and time again." Anastasia made a mental note. Once she gets Subaru in her camp, she'd be sure to properly teach him everything, from manners to basic common sense; and most importantly, who to trust.

"-Gha…" Subaru slowly became weaker under her grasp. The light in his eyes slowly drained their life as his mind grew hazy. His mouth continued to move, continuing to attempt to beg her for the chance to explain himself, but was left no room to do so. "A-ah..."

"Please, just stop…" Rem's chest tightened even further and she couldn't force out any more words.

"This is your failure. Have you finally realized that?" Priscilla admonished the maid.

"T-that's unfair!" Emilia defended Rem with tears slowly forming in her eyes. "That isn't Rem, she doesn't have her memories!"

"I beg to disagree," The masked knight's voice came from beside his princess. "This is her at her core. A person without memories won't act on their instincts, but rather who they are on a conceptual level."

"But that's wrong! Are you saying that Rem is a-"

"That she's apsychopath? That she's unwell? That, deep down, she's obsessive to the point of being possessive? Yes, I am!" Al spoke every word firmly, he wouldn't stop until Emilia had gotten his message into her thick skull. "Did you ever once think about her previous actions? That, when she watched Subaru sleep, it was completely normal and justified? Not once had it crossed your mind that she was sick in the head for doing so? She completely fooled all of you with all that love talk, then."

"And what about her sacrifices? When she fought Father Jui- The Sin Archbishop of Sloth?" Emilia stumbled over her words while giving Al her argument's evidence. "When she cared for him in the city? When she helped him against the White Whale?"

"Have you ever heard of the saying, 'Wolf in a sheep's clothing'? Basically, it's when one does actions contrary to their nature. Pretending to be someone you're not." Al continued tearing into the maid. "That oni must've gotten very good at pretending, she based her entire personality on her sister, then on Subaru. And now, when her memories are all missing from her head, she can take her first steps as a person.

So tell me, now that you see the girl known as 'Rem' on the screen, will you still be able to interact the same with the girl sitting over there?"

Emilia followed Al's pointing hand, her eyes landing on Rem, who was still looking at the screen. Perhaps she was pretending to not hear him, or maybe her focus was truly completely occupied by her mirror choking the man she loves.

"I-" Emilia starts to speak.

"Nah, I don't need to hear it. It doesn't affect me in the slightest. It's just something for you to think about for when you two talk in the future." The masked knight quickly waves her off.

"I won't treat you any different." Emilia turns and speaks to the still figure of Rem. Her figure didn't move a muscle, not showing any hint of her understanding of Emilia's words.

Emilia slowly tore her eyes from Rem and looked back at the screen.

"Are you feeling like speaking now? If so, I will, in good faith-" Rem spoke to him, seeing the struggle in his face slowly die out. However, Rem would not get the chance to release her hands willingly, as a shape crashed into her side, sending both scattered into the grass. "-Kya!?"

"What was that?!" Felt quickly leaned forward to try and get a better look.

"Someone, or something, saved him." Her knight responded.

"T-thank the dragon…" Otto breathed a sigh of relief.

"My amazin' self will be sur' to reward them." Garfiel nodded and wiped away all of the sweat that had gathered on his brow.

"But… Who saved him?" Crusch looked around the room for an answer. "The only other person there was the little girl, right?"

"Lolimancer's loli saved 'em." Ricardo said with a grin.

"Must be nice having a loli." Al sighed in disappointment before becoming shock-still as he realized what he just said.

"...Bro."

"I realize."

Subaru quickly filled his lungs and then started coughing from the fresh air that his lungs desperately needed. Once cognizant of Rem missing, he quickly rolled over and found that Rem was torn off of him by the little girl. "Uuu-! Uuuu-!"

"It was the girl!" Petra cheered.

"Yeah! Get her!" Mimi jumped up and down and threw a few punches to the air.

"I'm now feeling somewhat guilty that I accused that little girl of having been an enemy…" Wilhelm said whilst scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

"I'm sure it's fine, we were all on edge at the time." Reinhardt reassured his grandfather. "It's not like children haven't been revealed to be enemies, such as the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony."

"I wish it would go back to crazy madmen that were obsessed with love." Wilhelm sighed. "Enemies that look like children bring back some bitter memories."

"Aaaare you talking about Sphinx?" Roswaal asked the Sword Demon.

"How would you figure that out?"

"Weeeell, my grandmother left behind some journals and whatnooooot. She was quite surprised at Sphinx looking like a child."

"I see. Did she leave anything on me, by any chance?"

"'Daaaamn, he's hot.'"

"I regret asking."

"We all regret listening." Felt knew that she couldn't erase her memory of this exchange; oh how she wished she could.

"W-what are you doing… Stop it, please! This isn't the time to be…" Rem was begging the girl to stop attacking her, but her pleas were ignored. The girl was howling at her and bared her teeth while grappling with her.

"Holy shi', she's like an animal." Ricardo exclaimed with his eyebrows raised. "Even more tha' me!"

"Did you just make a joke about your race?" Tivey looks at him with an exasperated look.

"Joke?"

"Nevermind."

"That's strange…" Frederica cocked her head to the side.

"What is?" Emilia asked her.

"If what Priscilla-Sama's knight was saying is true, then Rem's 'character' was just pleading with a child as if she cared deeply about them." Frederica turned to look at Emilia while she was talking. "Or rather, that she knew them intimately."

"You're right… She's saying some completely different stuff to her than she did to Subaru." Crusch remarked. The difference between Rem's attitude between the Subaru and the child was shocking.

"Maaaaaybe because she's a child? Oooooor that Subaru is a man? I soooometimes hate meeeen, too." Roswaal chimed in.

"Shut up." Felt quickly demanded that the clown stop talking, not even taking the time to consider the implications of what he just said.

Roswaal didn't respond.

"Annnnyway, that means that Rem isn't a SII-CO-PASSat all!" Emilia concluded with a smile at her victory at defending Rem.

"It just means that she's not a complete psychopath." Al felt his brain compacting as his brain cells were destroying themselves.

"Well, if she isn't complete, then we can bring her down to incomplete and finally no levels of SII-CO-PASS!"

"That's…" Al just shut his mouth, he didn't want to spend the brainpower trying to educate her on otherworldly matters. Knowing or not knowing didn't matter in the slightest. It's the same as having hope. Nothing changes with or without it.

Subaru stopped for a moment while looking at the scene, and took a deep breath. He rushed the two of them. "Oi! Get away from Rem, right now!"

"He still seems hostile to the girl." The Greatest Knight looked over to the sleeping boy next to him with an unreadable look.

"As much as I don't want to be angry at him, I just-" Felix makes a few punching motions in the air, feigning giving Subaru a few hits.

"I'm inclined to agree with Ferris, but I'm sure we think this way because we don't know the full picture." Reinhardt didn't want them to get ahead of themselves, they must always have the full picture if they're to make a decision, lest they make the wrong one.

"Nyah…" Felix bowed his head, he got ahead of himself once before and he didn't want to repeat that.

"The whole picture, huh…" Julius continued looking at Subaru's sleeping form for a moment before looking back at the screen.

"Ah-, Uuu-!" The little girl screeched when Subaru forcefully pushed her off of Rem. He quickly followed her to the ground, pinning her arms behind her back with her face in the dirt(Where it belongs). She continued to struggle against Subaru's weight, but to no avail. "Au-! Uuu-, Uuuu-!"

"See? He's just restraining her from attacking the maid." Crusch looked at Felix with a 'You were too hasty' look on her face.

"Nyah…" Felix's head somehow went even lower.

"God Damnit, you…! Stop struggling… Just stay put! Rem, are you okay!? Did she do anything to you!?" Subaru looked over Rem to see if she was alright.

Rem tried to answer him. "N-no, I'm fine. More than that, I keep asking you over and over…-Eh?"

Rem was talking whilst trying to stand up, but her knees buckled underneath her weight, and her body fell to the ground. She pushed herself back up, with confusion on her face, but she fell to the ground once more. "...My legs won't…"

"Wait, you can't stand up?"

"Wha'? 'Ow can Rem not stand? Tha's not makin' any sense." Garfiel couldn't make any sense of Rem's inability to stand. She still has her legs, doesn't she? Just stand on them.

"Do ya think it's a long-standing consequence of th' sleepin' beauty disease?" Anastasia asked the person with the most knowledge about the disease in the room.

"Mmm… Maybe, no one's ever woke up from that disease before." Felix thought for a moment before presenting his theory. "There may be aftereffects that no one knows."

"But that doesn't make sense either, the maid woke up in this room from that disease, and yet she's perfectly fine, isn't she?" Crusch looked up at the quivering maid.

"...R-Rem's been able to stand and walk perfectly fine since Rem got here…" Rem shakily told them about her ability to stand.

"Nyaow we're back to nothing." Felix sat back in his seat, exasperated.

"I'm sure more information will come up later, Ferris, we just need to keep watching." Crusch smiled at her hard-working knight.

"Of course, Crusch-Sama." Felix nodded and looked back at the screen with the intent of remembering everything that was being said in case it was a clue to what the circumstances are.

"N...no, that's not… Not true… It's not true at all…" Rem's voice trembled as she tried to refute his claim, but willpower alone wouldn't allow her legs to function properly.

"Are you feeling weak because you've been asleep for so long? Wait, That can't be right. Wouldn't call the strength you used to push me over just now that of someone who's been bedridden as long as you." Subaru talked to himself, thinking of the possible causes that might've afflicted Rem's ability to walk. He looked up, having found a possible answer to the question. "-Wait, could it be because of the feedback she took from Nee-sama's fight?"

"Feedback?" Ram's eyes narrowed at the word, and her brows also came down at the mention of 'her fight'.

"Are you two connected like Mimi and her siblings?!" Mimi looked up at the maid with stars in her eyes, excited about the prospect of the oni twins being the same as the cat triplets. "We all share wounds and emotions! If you two are twins then you must be the same!"

"Feedback… Sharing?" Ram's eyes slowly widened as she understood what had happened, at least to an extent. She slowly detached herself from her sister and took up her seat once more next to her.

"Did you figure something out, Ram?" Frederica asked her fellow maid.

"My sister and I have this power called synesthesia, it allows us to connect to each other and roughly share our emotions." Ram's hand went up to her chin in thought. "But… it may also be able to allow the sharing of physical burdens as well."

"...You mean…?" Al spoke in a quiet tone.

"I may be able to use my sister as a means to use my original strength as the reincarnation of the oni god. If I try to release my power without my horn, I take severe backlash from the sheer amount of power and mana radiating throughout my body. But if I were able to use my sister's horn…" Ram trailed off.

"Then you'd be able to use her as a surrogate horn…" Al finished for her.

"I never thought synesthesia could be used in that way, but with the circumstances looking like this… it may be possible after all." Ram looked over to her sister. "The worrying thing is that I needed to burden Rem with that pain to face an enemy."

"Could it be Gluttony?" Emilia recalled seeing the Archbishop in the tower. "He was in the tower, wasn't he?"

"...And my sister woke up after the fact…" Ram's eyes trailed off to her sister sitting next to her. "I must've killed him and brought my sister back from her sleep."

"HA! My amazin' self would lov' to see tha'!" Garfiel shouted with a fierce smile. Seeing that lil brat Gluttony get his ass kicked by Ram would be amazing.

"That's all speculation, though, isn't it?" Julius pointed out. "For all we know, you might've tortured him into waking up your sister."

"It's not like I wouldn't." Ram said matter-of-factly. Gluttony was a bastard that needed to be wiped off the face of the earth. Doubly so after he ate her sister's very existence out of her head. The moment that she left the theater, she would ensure that he would no longer be able to keep breathing safely until she found him, then he wouldn't be breathing any longer.

"The troubling thing is that Gluttony forced you to use the power of the oni god." Al said with a hint of the emotions beneath his helmet. The deep, dark negative emotions that have laid dormant for many years.

"That is rather troubling." Ram admitted.

"Eh? Why is that, why is that! Mimi wants to know!" Mimi bounced up and down in excitement. Things like 'oni god' and that the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony got his ass handed to him has made her very curious as to why that'd be troubling if they already knew Ram's power was enough to defeat him.

"When we saw the bastard earlier, he didn't look at all like a threat big enough to use that power," Ram said with a troubled look on her face. The oni god was an existence that could be said to be absolute in the eyes of the common man, but being forced to rely on that power to face an enemy… "He just seemed fairly skilled, but not something that a large force of veteran knights couldn't defeat if the Knight-Captain or the Greatest Knight were among them.

My power at the level of the oni god would be able to destroy the very land beneath that forces feet in a single strike. I would never use my sister to use that power unless it was absolutely necessary, meaning that he's hiding something truly terrible underneath that 'boy who is fairly skilled'."

"That's rather troubling." Reinhardt admitted. "I'm not even sure if my modest strength would be enough against that sort of foe."

"You would be fine." Felt looked at him like he was an idiot. "It's not like anything can hurt you."

"Anything except your words, Lady Felt." Reinhardt said with a smile, but he quickly had to raise his hand to catch a shoe thrown at him. His brow knitted itself in concern as he examined the shoe and then Felt's lack-of-shoe on one of her feet. "Lady Felt! Please don't throw your shoes, what if someone undesirable were to catch a glimpse of your bare feet? They may tell the counsel and those men may believe that you're not a proper lady!"

"Why the hell do you care?! I ain't a proper lady in any sense and I think that not a single person in this room wants to look at my feet!"

The room grew quiet, and eyes were drawn towards someone in particular.

"Whaaaaat?" Roswaal asked incredulously.

Their prying eyes looked away as quickly as they looked towards him. Roswaal couldn't believe a single thing that just happened.

"You're a creep, you might like feet, who knows?" Felt said with a snarky tone.

"I know, and no, I doooo not like feet. I prefer tea from older ladies." Roswaal quickly waved her off, he had no intention of entertaining little girls who make such assumptions.

Beatrice choked on literally nothing as she realized what that meant. She wasn't going to bring it up with anyone, ever. She was taking this to the grave.

"...It's all my fault." Subaru wore a conflicted expression, one that showed that he thought that he should've done more, performed better. Rem's eyes filled with rage as she yelled at him. "All your fault you say… Did you do something to me?!"

"He's blaming himself for me." Ram gritted her teeth at Subaru's self-blame when she undoubtedly played a bigger part in it. "Dammit, Barusu."

"Why does Subaru blame himself for so many things?" Emilia's concern poured out of her body and onto her face as she took note of his attitude whenever something goes wrong. "He does so much good for us! And yet… whenever something goes wrong he always thinks it's his fault!"

"Not a sage in any way, just a mere fool." Roswaal recalled his conversation with the boy after the events at the sanctuary. Roswaal undoubtedly gave him the easier path, all he needed was to protect one thing. And yet he fought against him, and yet he went down the path of a fool instead of a sage. The clown shook his head at Subaru's decision to continue his lonely path of suffering instead of forsaking it for something easier.

"Heroes at least think about their own health from time to time." Al recalled his own past, you must be cruel to yourself, yet you must be kind at other times when you deserve it. Constantly being cruel to yourself leads to abominations like himself, he didn't want that for Subaru. "You've got to be more greedy, bro. Or else you'll fall apart."

"Not at all, it was just a figure of speech; however…" Subaru shook his head at her angry tone, trying to clear up what he said, but she didn't care about getting those answers yet. "First things first! Who are you?! And who am I!?"

"She's finally asked th' questions, and she hasn't even choked him for it!" Anastasia spoke loudly, enough for the maid to hear her sarcasm-laden voice. "Incredible how you can even do tha'."

Rem didn't answer as her eyes were still glued to the screen. She was feeling a little better than before. Being stopped from harming Subaru any further did a lot more for her mental health than she expected, she can even take deep breaths without shuddering, imagine that! She'd have to thank that little girl when she meets her in the future for stopping her.

Subaru didn't respond to her question. Seeing this, Rem gave an angry whack to her legs, practically abusing herself to try and get her legs to work. She continued looking at him with complete anger in her eyes.

Who am I? Played through the screen, showing the words that were coursing through Subaru's head. He bowed his head about the futility of continuing such thoughts. He raised his head and spoke once more. "I guess she must be in the same state as Crusch-san."

"He's come to the same conclusion as us." Crusch nodded at Subaru's assessment.

"So what now?" Felt questioned Subaru's plan. "Is he just gonna take the both of 'em and walk around in th' forest?"

"Well, at the very least, the danger has passed." Reinhardt reminded her of the positive. "Perhaps this is a new checkpoint?"

"I 'ope so, then cap'n doesn't have to worry bout that Witch." Garfiel thought back to Satella rushing after Subaru on Patrasche, and when Subaru was finally swallowed in this past viewing. He would never admit it out loud but… it terrified him.

"A new checkpoint means the end of an arc, doesn't it?" Reinhardt realized what his own words meant in the grand scheme of things. "Then we've seen how this one ends, no?"

The mood in the room lifted with those simple words. Light returned to their eyes as they pondered perhaps even the end of all loops. Maybe this was the end of it all? Once Subaru got back home, he didn't have to worry about anything else.

"Uwaa!" Subaru jumped a bit at the sudden sound and looked down at the source of it. The girl was no longer struggling against Subaru, and instead was simply sitting there, showing that she wasn't trying to fight anymore.

"All in favor in calling her 'Blonde-loli number 2' until we learn her name, say 'I'" Al called out.

"I!" Ricardo shouted, along with the two children sitting next to him.

"I." Otto and Garfiel spoke in low tones, trying not to be heard, but still, this was pretty funny.

"WHAT WAS THAT, IN FACT?!" Beatrice screeched at the top of her lungs in rage. "ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT A GREAT SPIRIT SUCH AS MYSELF IS 'BLONDE-LOLI NUMBER 1', I SUPPOSE?!"

"Whoa, calm down there, numero uno." Al raised his hands in surrender. "It makes sense for you to be number 1 because you're the best, no?"

"T-that's" Beatrice's anger immediately dissipated into the air as she thought of the possibilities. Subaru did always call her his number 1… but having a number 2 would truly cement that into existence...

"Ya can't be serious." Ricardo stared at the great spirit with a befuddled expression, it can't be that easy to get away with that, right?

"Easy." Al nodded his head in victory over a great spirit itself.

Subaru looked down at her and sighed. He stood up without letting go, suspending her in the air, and then released his grasp. "UAH!"

"WHAT THE HELL, SUBARU!?" Felix had kept his calm from Subaru's earlier attacks on the child in hopes that there was something that they didn't know about the full picture. But this was too far.

"Uh, bro?" Ricardo looked back up to Al. "Maybe sh' isn't par' of th' lolimancer's arsenal?"

"Maybe she likes it." Al spoke with a completely flat tone. If you could see his face, he wouldn't have a single emotion poking out, he'd be completely stone-faced.

Felix whirled around and looked Al dead in the face. Al's composure immediately crumbled as he started laughing obnoxiously. He starts placating Felix with an "It was a joke, a joke!"

The catboy turned back to the screen with a "Not funny."

The girl hit the ground and rolled about, rubbing her backside. Subaru didn't give her any more attention, and slowly walked over towards Rem.

Rem continued keeping her guard up around him, not letting it slip for even a moment. Subaru saw bits and flashes of the past, remembering that the look Rem was giving him was the same as the past when he was being chased by her.

"Like nothing's changed since then." Julius let out a sigh at the futility of it all, if, for everything that Subaru's done, nothing changed since then, then what's the point of hard work in the first place? "For everything he's done, nothing's changed."

Rem quivered a bit but continued watching. As long as things didn't get worse than they are, she'd be able to hold herself together.

"Anyways, the matter of nee-sama aside… Hey, you know…"

"W-What is it? Just so you know, if you're planning on doing anything to me, I'll…"

"...Rem."

"Huh?"

Rem's face changed from a tense guard to one of being taken by surprise. Subaru stopped moving towards her, more than a step out of her reach. "It's Rem. That's your name."

"Remember that, Crusch-Sama?" Wilhelm looked over to Crusch with a grin.

"You were so cute and innocent nyah!" Felix clapped his hands together.

"Please stop bringing that up…" Crusch held her head in her hands as the waves of memories continued flooding into her, forcing her body into a smaller area so that she'd seem to be unnoticeable.

"'Are we… lovers, or something?'" Felix mimicked Crusch's words when she forgot her memories.

"STOOPPP!" Crusch screamed out in genuine terror, no one should know about this.

"Nyah, if only you had said those words to me, I'd've been so happy… nyah." Felix sighed despondently.

"Wait, then who did she say them to?" Emilia tried joining in on the conversation.

"Felix…" Crusch warned with a low growl.

"Take a wild guess, nyah." Felix said with a pointed glare to a certain sleeping boy in the room.

"FELIX!" The green-haired duchess had had enough.

"Nyat-oh." Felix shakily looked back at his leader. Crusch had genuine rage in her eyes and was standing up very slowly with every movement being as menacing as possible.

"Grit your teeth." Crusch's voice sounded like a devil in the flesh.

"R-Reinhardt-? J-Julius-Kyun?" Felix looked at his friends with a desperate look on his face. They both returned a look of hollowed eyes and a dry smile. Both of them slowly looked back at the screen, Felix completely deserved every bit of what was coming to him.

"NYAHHHH!" And so, the beating commenced.

Rem didn't speak, only her lips mouthed the name 'Rem' over and over, as if making sure of its authenticity. Subaru's brow furrowed in concern, seeing her mull over something like her own name with such doubt. "In all honesty, I don't really know properly what happened either. Just that we got separated from our friends, and we're here, in this place which is god knows where. You should be able to understand that's quite the mess, right?"

'Well, I…" Rem looked over the expansive grassland and the trees surrounding it. A breeze rustled throughout the entire plain, it looked to stimulate the life, instead of showing off its lack thereof like the Augria Sand Dunes.

"That should hopefully get through my sister's thick skull." Ram didn't want to sound rude to her sister. But… well, her sister had a thick skull and it could get annoying if there wasn't anyone to be able to get that point across.

"I hope it does, I don't think my heart would be able to take it if she were to continue with this hostility of hers." The beast maid had been with the two oni maids for 10 years up until this point. She knew them inside and out, and Rem… well, she had a thick skull and was extremely annoying when she wouldn't listen to her words sometimes.

"We can't expect to be helped immediately. We're gonna need to take the necessary actions to help ourselves from here, somehow or other. That's why…"

"That's why what? What are you going to tell me to do? Me, and my legs which can hardly move and all."

"...I imagine you'll get all suspicious again once I say this sort of stuff, but I'd be just content with you being here for me. Breathing, talking to me, looking around the surroundings with your eyes; I'd be content with only that."

"That's…" Anastasia was a little disturbed at Subaru's casual remarks about Rem being… awake? "A little much, ain't it?"

"He does that sometimes, I suppose." Beatrice shook her head in disappointment in herself. "It's his way of comparing things to the past, in fact."

"...He did that once when we were helping Frederica and Garfiel get their differences casted aside…" Emilia realized. "I wish I put more thought into it…"

"It's not your fault, Emilia-Sama." Frederica quickly reassured the half-elf. "None of us would've thought he'd have this sort of ability or that he's seen so much of these abhorrent things."

"But I should've been-" Emilia tries to speak but was quickly interrupted.

"C'mon, Lady Emilia, don't pull a 'Subaru'." Ricardo said with a wink.

"E-eeeeh?"

"Ya know he puts too much pressure an' blame on 'emself, and we don't wan' 'em doin' tha', righ'? So stop doin' it to yerself."

"...You're right, please forgive me."

"Nah, no forgiveness needed, ya just gotta do better in th' future."

"I will. For his sake."

"...? You mean looking around with my eyes, and telling you whether the coast is clear?"

"Not quite like that, though, that too would be fine."

Subaru continued looking into her eyes with a pleading expression. "Please, won't you trust me here? Even if I were to give up my life in exchange… No, it means squat were I to give up my life, so I shall protect you at all cost. I swear it. That's why…"

"-. And say I take you up on your offer, then what will you do?"

"You think he has a good plan?" Reinhardt looked towards Julius. "I'm not sure if I'd have one if I had that kind of stress piled on me."

"Well… He'll figure something out right now with quick thinking, but the quality of it may not be up to par." Julius laid down his thoughts. "I think the main concern is convincing the maid to follow along with him, the plan may not need to be good, just good to her, no?"

"That's true. Though it'll be difficult because she has no memories, with everything that's happened, she's suspecting him of… well, of everything."

"He'll convince her."

"...Right, I have faith as well."

"Ah, right. Would be pointless to act with no-plan, so when it comes to one…" Subaru sighed, the area that they were in was unremarkable. With a small plains area that they were residing in, and 360 degrees worth of forest all around them. Meaning that they had no clue where they were. (English is in underline)

"Firstly, the unbreakable rule when one gets lost in a forest is to let his allies know his location, using a GPS, but…"

Everyone in the theater immediately honed in on the Great Spirit, though it took a few seconds longer as she wasn't in her contractor's lap anymore.

"Hmph! A GPS is a device for finding locations on and around the user, I suppose." Was the Great Spirit's reply. "Simply put, it would allow rescue if the user ever found themselves in an unknown location, such as right now, in fact."

"Thank you, Beatrice-Sama." Julius gave Beatrice a small bow.

"What was my contractor thinking, leaving me to educate all of you, I suppose?"

"...You know we could just get that masked guy to tell us, right?" Felt reminded the great spirit as her head was getting a little too big.

"Yeah, cause I totally remember everything from 15 years ago." Al immediately declined.

"See? That's what happens when you talk back to a great spirit, in fact!" And so, Beatrice's head grew three sizes that day.

"Whatever." The blonde-haired thief frowned at the masked knight's reply and ended the conversation whilst trying to seem as uncaring as possible.

"'Gee-pee-es'?"

"I know. Nothing like that exists… It's just that Beako has the connection she has with me, so there's a possibility she could pinpoint my whereabouts with something similar. In a way, you could say my existence itself is a GPS."

"Is that true?" The green-haired duchess couldn't believe it, if having a spirit allowed for such an exchange of information then having everyone contract at least one would be extremely beneficial.

"It is, in fact. I can tell where my contractor is at all times, I suppose." Beatrice smiled with her hands on her hips. She was clearly enjoying all of the attention given to her.

"Are you able to do that with your spirits, Julius?" Felix asked his friend, one of the only spirit knights in service to Lugunica.

"I'm unable to tell where they are, but they do know where I am, perhaps it's because they're still just buds?" Julius thought on his connection with his spirits. He cared for them in every waking moment, and they doubtlessly cared for him. Yet they still haven't grown into full-fledged spirits yet, perhaps a greater connection is needed? But Julius didn't know how he'd go about doing that, so he decided to leave it at that.

"So the connection grows stronger in congruence with the strength of the spirit? Interesting." Priscilla mutters to herself. An old friend of hers had an ability that allowed her to eat spirits and gain their power, what kind of connection would that make between her and the spirit she ate? Did they disappear? Or perhaps if she ate an already contracted spirit then the contract would sever? Priscilla smiles to herself, if she were to learn the ins and outs of Arakiya's ability here, it would be easier to destroy Vollachia's current power structure.

Subaru continued. "What's left is securing a source of water… It's important to get a hold of water, no matter what. It's probably better if we chose our base camp, and start widening our field of search from there. Edible grass and fruits are… ahhh, I was right to learn it from Clind-san. Gotta thank my mentor…" Subaru scratched his head with a wry smile. Small bits and pieces of Subaru's training flashed on the screen while he was talking.

Frederica felt a dry heave from within her chest.

"Ewwwwwww!" Petra voiced out the thoughts that Frederica held in her mind.

"I don't want to know." Felt judged everything from Petra's reaction to the name, her absolute disgust and uncomfortability just from the name spoke volumes on this 'Clind'.

"There's a lot of other stuff as well, but it's not like I'm trying to take action without a plan. Are you able to understand now?"

"...To an extent. Even if I wanted to resist, I'm in this condition, so…"

"...That's a remark that I can get a glimpse of your honest thoughts from." Subaru continued smiling, maybe smiling even brighter than before. However, anxiety was still etched in his eyes, unable to be erased completely. "Your legs. I hope you can start moving on them soon."

"-Hhk, even if you told me that, I don't know. What are you going to do?"

"I told you. Firstly, I'm planning on searching for water. There's the thing with your legs, so I'm thankful if you wouldn't act against me if you could…" Subaru walked up to Rem, turned around, and squatted low to the ground.

"Carrying her on his back, eh?" Wilhelm sighed at Subaru's lack of initiative. "Not as romantic as a princess-carry but it'll do."

"Did you ever princess-carry your wife, Wilhelm?" Crusch asked the Sword Demon.

"Once, she got embarrassed after a few seconds and demanded that she walk by herself. She then banned me from carrying her like that again."

"The more I hear about Grandmother, the more I'm confused on what kind of woman she was." Reinhardt didn't remember much of his grandmother, so most of his impression of her was of stories told of the Sword Saint, Theresia Van Astrea, and not 'Theresia' herself.

"Let me tell you about the time I fought the strongest man in Vollachia for her… you see-"

"Not the time, Wilhelm." Crusch interrupted the man before he could open up the history book. Doubtless, most in the room knew what he was talking about and wanted to hear it, but they also didn't want to miss the viewing in case anything happened.

"Right… Seems talking about my wife loosens my lips too much… I'll tell you later Reinhardt." Wilhelm apologized.

"Please don't worry about it, Grandfather, I'll be sure to hear it later."

"Are you planning to bring me with you on your back?"

"There's also the choice to princess-carry you, But I won't last very long if I do that. If you would let me carry you on my back, I guess it's very helpful, personally."

Wilhelm coughed.

"..." Rem sunk into her thoughts, staring at Subaru with a complex expression, weighing her options. She shook her head and gave a long sigh, tentatively reaching for his back.

Rem's slender arms slunk above his shoulders, interlocking them in the front of his chest. Now that she'd been set on his back, Subaru slowly stood up, as to not accidentally shake Rem too much.

She's light… Subaru smiled. He lifts her with so much accuracy and care, it's clear he holds many experiences with carrying those who are unconscious. Of course, this experience comes from carrying Rem herself.

"Someone suffering from the sleeping-beauty disease doesn't gain or lose weight, unless, of course, someone fed her sleeping form." Frederica looks down at Petra with suspicion on her gaze. Petra met her eyes in shock, and then quickly looked away.

"You. WHAT." Ram looked down at the little maid with fury surpassing all known emotion. Nothing else could exist in that void named 'Rage'.

"..." Petra said nothing.

"Frederica, explain. Now." Ram held just enough of her sanity to ask for more details concerning this travesty.

"When I was caring for her whilst she was sleeping, I made sure to check her mouth for any blockage, in case something was causing problems with her breathing." Frederica quickly explained her reasoning due to Ram's confused look. "I've never cared for someone who suffered from that disease, so I wanted to be thorough on all possible fronts. And whilst I checked her mouth and throat, I found traces of food in her teeth and around her tongue. After I cleaned it, it would reappear, day after day, as if someone were feeding her."

"Little maid. I have been nothing but caring in these days that we share. I allow you to help me, and I allow you the easier portions of those tasks. But this… this is how you repay me? I've allowed you access to my sister's sleeping form, a great privilege and a huge amount of trust. Yet you'd betray that trust in trying to fatten my sister?" Ram stares down at the maid who wouldn't meet her gaze. Wait, how did Ram move that fast to get to Petra's seat? Blood started pouring down her forehead from undoing one of her locks.

"I-it…" Petra tried to speak up.

"It's okay, sister." Rem spoke up. "A little bit of food never hurt anyone."

Ram looks up at her sister, sighs, then looks back at the little maid. "I am being merciful, not because you deserve mercy, but because my sister feels pity for you. I am respecting her decision, see how respect works? You should learn it. We are now-"

"Ram." Roswaal gave out a commanding tone.

"Yes, Roswaal-Sama? Shall I punish her?"

"You know thaaaat's a lie, right?"

"...Eh?"

Frederica and Petra burst out laughing at Ram's shocked expression, holding their sides and trying to contain themselves. Ricardo and Al start joining in because Ram's shocked expression continues to become more defined.

Petra and Frederica give each other a high five at their success. Turning back to Ram makes them start laughing even harder.

"...A-a lie?" Ram whispered up to her master.

"The reaaaason Petra-Chan didn't look up at you was because she was trying her hardest not to laugh, not because she waaaas guilty."

It seemed as though Ram's brain had shut down at those words, looking back and forth between Petra and Roswaal. Blood from her horn fell into her eyes, but she paid it no mind, she was still processing with her 256-megabyte brain.

"Why…?" She whispered out after a few moments.

"You're bad at being a maid." Frederica stated flatly, but her shit-eating grin was still there.

"What?" Ram shook her head at the nonsense that Frederica was saying. "What about the little one? Isn't she the worst here?"

"She makes up for it with hard work and determination, and she's learning. She's been a maid for about a year and a half. How long have you been a maid for?" Frederica sighed. "Petra was mad that you were still going off about how you're better than her as a maid, even though the answer's obviously that she's better than you. She wanted to get back at you, that's all."

Ram couldn't believe it. They were pranking her, her. Ram nodded with a plan forming in her mind. "Okay." and walked back to her seat next to Rem.

"Uh… Frederica-Neesama... " Petra looked up to Frederica with genuine terror in her eyes.

"We used to do this a while back, she'll get back at us in the future." Frederica said with sweat running down her forehead and a grimace, much to Petra's horror. "This might be rough…"

"-? Is something the matter?" Rem notices Subaru didn't start moving when he stood all the way up.

"No, it's just that it was deeply moving, oddly enough. So, it's about the search for water, but-"

"Before that… What will we do about that girl?"

"That is the question, isn't it." The Sword Saint pondered the answer that he could come up with at the current moment. Subaru would likely stay hostile, so it's up to Rem to convince him to take positive action.

"Natsuki Subaru seemed hostile towards her earlier, I doubt those feelings will have changed in such a short time." Julius had come to the same conclusion that Reinhardt had, and voiced his theory.

"It may… be unfortunate if Subaru-Kun continues to stay that way." Rem spoke through her teeth.

"Might I ask why?" Reinhardt asked the maid if the girl herself said that something might be unfortunate, then things may develop in an undesired way.

"What would you do if you saw a stranger be hostile towards a child who has done nothing but act like a child in front of you? And you thought that this stranger was suspicious?"

"...I see. This is a rather peculiar situation."

"...Ah." Subaru turned to the loli, who was tangled up in her own extremely lengthy hair, his eyes full of suspicion.

"Aah, aauuh-" The little girl was making sounds befitting an infant. Subaru shook his head at the sight, not making any move towards her, his eyes slightly wistful. "Will that become a reason for me to pity her?"

"What's he talking about?" Mimi cocked her head to the side when she couldn't figure out why Subaru was talking to himself.

"He does this when he's thinking to himself, I suppose. Though I'd rather hear what he's thinking than not know at all, in fact." Beatrice's eyes narrowed a slight bit. The screen was previously broadcasting Subaru's thoughts without a care in the world, and that caused a few unfortunate circumstances. Though it's now forgoing Subaru's thoughts for some reason, creating a vague mystery in this entire thing.

"It's very strange that it's inconsistent like that." Tivey brought this concern to the group. "Perhaps errors like before?"

"Nah, I think this thing is self-sufficient, it's just playing recordings or something, hence 'Auto-play' coming up, it would be a lot more noticeable if there was something wrong with it." Al spoke against Tivey's theory. "The easiest explanation is that someone or something consciously made the decision for it to be inconsistent."

"That's… rather foreboding." Crusch felt a shiver go down her spine. If something was truly withholding information, then that means that that something would be able to paint anyone in the room in a bad light, leading to unrest and suspicion. (Author's note: I may or may not be that something haha.)

"You won't help her?" Rem's eyes weren't visible.

"...It's complicated. I was in the same place as her, but she's not really my ally. In fact, she's on the opposite side of an ally. My heart won't ache, even if I left her here."

"..." Rem's breath caught in her throat.

"No, please stop…" Rem begged her hero.

"Natsuki Subaru! You're throwing away the trust she's given you!" Julius shouted at him, he was so close to gaining her trust and was now in the process of dumping it off the great waterfall.

"No. no no, Subaru, please think! Think about how this sounds to someone without their memories!" Crusch pleaded with the boy, but nothing could change the past. Especially not the words of one of the Invited.

"We're leaving her there.. We can't bring a dangerous element with us, much less a burden."

"Is… that so." Rem spoke with a flat tone.

"NO NO NO!" Rem screamed out in terror, all of her worst fears were coming true.

"This is bad, this is bad bad bad!" Petra shook her head over and over, trying to rid herself of the scenarios that plagued her mind in which Rem decided to attack him after his words.

"Fool." The fiery-haired princess had only one word to say, and it spoke volumes of what she thought about him at this moment.

"Yeah, that's right. I can't say I had a pleasant time waking up either, but…"

"-As I thought, even if I were to be empty, I was right to believe in myself." Rem's voice came out with a terribly icy, cutting tone.

No one spoke a word, but they all knew that Subaru had failed. He was so close, so incredibly close to convincing her. And yet he threw it all away for a grudge that he holds.

Rem scratched at her face to keep herself from looking away, even if it drew blood, she wouldn't look away; she probably wouldn't notice, either.

Julius felt despair at Subaru's folly, he was supposed to be smarter than that. But Julius couldn't know what happened in the past with the little girl, so it was impossible to know how big the grudge between them is.

Subaru stopped moving, having heard that tone from the person he was carrying on his back. His eyes widened from the completely unexpected retort, not being able to make sense of it. "Eh?"

"Imbecile, you think that the girl will follow you because you 'understand' her?" Priscilla was the only one who spoke. "She must be made to understand yourself, lest she thinks that you come off as suspicious."

The pair of arms that were wrapped around his chest quickly moved upwards, around his neck. Both of the arms put immense pressure on Subaru's windpipe, preventing him from breathing. "-Gahk,"

Rem couldn't breathe. She was killing her hero after he'd gotten past the Witch of Envy, this was supposed to be a checkpoint for him, the end of this loop. But she was going to send him back. Back to that place, that tower that he doubtlessly saw many horrors in.

Subaru couldn't breathe, and neither could Rem. It was as if she were choking herself on that screen. Her arms around his neck tightened, and Rem's throat tightened as well, she couldn't breathe, and neither could he; Rem continued to choke him, and continued to tighten her windpipe with her arms.

"Saying things that sound pleasant to my ears before inviting me to come with you, and then abandoning the girl. How could I believe someone like that, telling me to put my trust in him? Stop messing around with me."

"Haaah, hhhaaaa-" Rem grasped at her throat, but nothing would go into it. Her body started shaking and cold sweat was pouring out of every part of her body.

"Rem!" Ram immediately was at her side, trying to help her breathe. When nothing worked, Ram tried to force Rem to look away from the screen, but she wouldn't move an inch.

Ram then covered her vision using her body, but something Ram would never have expected happened. Rem pushed her away with all her strength.

"Gah!" Air was knocked out of her lungs as she hit the ground, stopping her from immediately getting back up or speaking. The fatigue from using her horn earlier weighed her down as well, she couldn't even sit up.

Roswaal was at her side in an instant. "That's why I told you not to use your horn, I can't help you with your horn deficiency in this place."

He looked up at Rem with anger plain on his face, but it was quickly replaced with shock. Rem hadn't even looked over at her sister. Her eyes were still completely set on the screen, it was as if she hadn't even contemplated that her sister was in front of her at any time in the first place.

"D-don't blame-her…" Ram choked out a few words. Her mouth moved, trying to say more, but nothing would come out.

"...Very well." Roswaal said simply and sat back in his seat with Ram laying across his lap. He would burn her pain into his very soul.

Subaru's eyes bulged from their sockets, unable to breathe. He pulled on Rem's arms to stop their blocking of his windpipe, but it was a futile effort. Subaru then fell backward onto the ground, crushing Rem underneath him with his weight.

However, she wouldn't remove her arms.

"Let go, let go, let go let go! LET HIM GO!" Felix repeated himself, louder and louder as Subaru continued to fail at escaping.

"He'll go back into that tower because of such a stupid occurrence?" Julius stared at the screen with wide eyes at such a stupid happening. "Just let him go."

"R-Rem, please!" Emilia begged with the Rem on-screen, but nothing in the room will ever change what happened outside of it.

"She's going to suffocate him?" Al gritted his teeth. "He won't even be able to explain himself to her."

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why would you do this to me, Rem? I just wanted to-

"Letting such a wicked stench drift around yourself, and saying you're not scheming anything is a bare-faced lie in itself!"

Rem's fingernails tore into her face, drawing blood. But she continued watching. She couldn't breathe, yet she watched. She couldn't feel, but her body was filled with anguish. Her breath wouldn't catch in her body. It was as if she were choking herself.

And yet, the worst part is that no one noticed, save for Ram. No one paid any attention to the one who was destroying herself. One who was so deep into despair and her own pain, that she couldn't even think, she was simply an observer to the worst thing that she's ever seen. Her brain had stopped working, but her eyes continued to observe. She didn't even feel as if she were in the room anymore, it was her that was killing her hero.

-It was her that was killing herself, not just him.

"It's back to this…" Crusch felt her heart continue beating harder and faster at each passing moment. Sweat was pouring out of her body as it tried to cool itself down from her increased blood pressure. But her heart wouldn't listen.

"Tha' scent... " Garfiel remembers the time that Ryuzu had told him to act a certain way in response to it. "Fuck! Why does this hav' to happen?!"

"I'll change this, I'll ensure that there isn't any room for doubt that this isn't happening." Otto swore to himself in the face of such an abhorrent situation. "I swear it."

Subaru's face contorted in despair. His fear is palpable through even the screen itself. Flashes of Rem torturing Subaru for the same reason in a previous loop fly through his head. Tears start flowing from his eyes, his agitation and despair start showing themselves, using his body as a medium.

"I-I…" Anastasia couldn't say anything as her throat tightened. She was struggling in getting her breathing under control and looked away from the screen.

"Just… look away…" Frederica looked down at Petra with tears forming in her eyes, but she didn't look back up.

Petra slowly nodded and looked down whilst covering her ears.

"-ah." Subaru opened his mouth and screamed, but a tiny whimper was all that came out. He twisted, rolled, and fought Rem for even the chance to explain himself, but to no avail.

"She isn't letting go…" Felix's anxiety and fear continued to rise, he felt as though his body was going to explode from the pressure that his ever-building emotions caused.

"S-she's going to k-kill him- She's going to kill my bro!" Felt bit her lips so hard that it drew blood, but she didn't even feel it.

"Stop stopstopstopstopstopstopstopstop!" Beatrice's face was the epitome of despair, she didn't care about putting on any airs of nobility, she just wanted Rem to stop. "MAID! STOP KILLING MY SUBARU, I SUPPOSE!"

Rem couldn't breathe.

The area around them starts disappearing into darkness. His hands continued trying to pry Rem's arms from his throat, for a simple gasp of air.

"Suffocation will slowly drag him into the depths of unconsciousness… Why is this happening to such a good man?!" Wilhelm gripped his armrests with enough force that they were reduced to splinters in a matter of moments.

"I thought she was supposed to be weakened or something from your shared fatigue!?" Crusch turned to the second half of the oni maids and screamed at her.

Ram tries to speak, but the words wouldn't leave her lips.

"Agghhh! DAMMIT!" Crusch's eyes started to tear up from everything that was happening.

The sky vanishes.

"Please Rem! Just stop already!" Emilia's face was already covered in tears and snot.

He rolls, taking Rem with him, trying to shift the weight on his throat enough to get a breath. Futile.

"After everything? This is what happens? He gets his wish and gets punished for it?!" Julius shook in his seat, a cold sweat already stained his back. Subaru was better than him in every regard, so then why does this have to happen to him?

"Maybe it'd be best to ensure that she never wakes up…" Felix looked to the blue-haired maid that was staring at the screen in the theater.

"..."

"That's wrong!" Emilia jumps in to defend Rem. "She's-"

"She's KILLING him! There's nothing to say about it! She's ending his life based on suspicion and a few reasons that she's refusing to let him explain!" Felix shouted at her, all respect be damned.

"I-I know! Alright!? I j-just want this all to stop…"

"We can't do anything in this damned place." Julius gritted his teeth and stared at the screen with enraged eyes. "This tragedy must never be allowed to occur."

Rem couldn't breathe.

The ground falls away.

"Just them…! Let go already! H-he's going to die after all that?!"

Subaru opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He stretched his hands to his throat, but couldn't pry off her arms. He tried to roll and dislodge her, but she wouldn't allow any more movement. He tried- And couldn't.

"He's dead." Al spoke calmly.

"No! H-he can find a way out of this, I s-suppose!" Beatrice shouts at him, practically tearing her hair out of her head.

"The little girl hasn't saved him thus far, and his strength wasn't enough even when he had air." Al pointed out. "He has no cards to play."

They were crying. Weeping, bawling, shedding tears at the situation. In despair, grief, anguish at the circumstances. All for one man, for the boy that they each loved so much, out of friendship, affection, of interest, or simple enjoyment. None of them were not in despair.

That's how wrong this situation felt.

Rem leaves, gone to the darkness.

Rem didn't breathe.

By himself in that darkness, Subaru's face was haunted by despair. A face that was too powerless to even afford himself an explanation with the one he cares for so much. His mouth opened to let out a scream for a chance, a simple chance to explain.

"This sight… I'll burn it into my mind, no matter what, I won't forget." Reinhardt swore.

"I shall as well." Julius joined.

"Me too." Felix agreed.

"I-I will as well, I suppose…" Beatrice followed suit.

"Mineself will burn this sight into mine eyes." Priscilla did as well.

"I'll see this everytime I close my eyes, I won't forget." Otto bowed his head.

"I w-will never let this 'appen, I swear it." Garfiel will give his all.

"I-I'll be there for you, Subaru." Crusch won't let him feel this sort of pain again.

"...Let me help, as well." Anastasia knew that he would need all the help he could get.

"Bro… I'll be there if you need me." Felt looked at him with a determined expression.

"A good guy doesn' deserve this…" Ricardo said without a smile.

"He's the best at what he does, yet he gets some shitty circumstances, huh?" Al sighed.

"Subaru-Sama…" Frederica's eyes went towards the screen and watched in solemn silence.

"You're the only man I know that can stand up after something like that… So please do it again, Subaru-Dono." Wilhelm pleaded with the boy who has gone through so much.

Ram couldn't speak, but the fire in her eyes was the same as everyone else's, she wasn't going to allow this to happen.

-And then that face fell into the darkness as well.

Rem's vision quickly blacked out, as her brain finally fell into unconsciousness due to her inability to breathe while Subaru was choking.

Ram was by her side in an instant, making sure that her sister was able to breathe, and sighed a breath of relief as she started to breathe again.

"M-maybe it'll light back up…?" Emilia said weakly, she had no hope for that happening. It was simply to keep her sane.

As the seconds went on with no change, many in the audience finally allowed themselves to cry at the end of Subaru's life. There would be no happy end, he wouldn't get a savepoint here. He would simply go back to that nightmarish tower, doomed to repeat it until he escaped from Satella herself. How many times did it take him to escape to that field, and how many more would it take for him to get back to it?

However, the screen did indeed light back up.

Eyes immediately locked back onto it, despair waned for a simple moment, hope was born, deep within their irises.

"I-it can't be! '5 Minutes Until Auto-Play'?!"

And yet, despair washed over them anew.

---

Yeah. I just did that.

I've decided to write ~10 reaction chapters in total because I don't want to write this shit forever like that Moe guy. Do keep in mind that if I split a reaction chapter like chapters 1 and 2, that still counts as one reaction chapter in total. And I will write chapters with no reactions at all to progress the plot (yes there is a plot, bite me)

Anywho, the next chapter will be Shaula's intro, and I won't start writing it until like a week from now, cause I actually have a life (Surprising, I know).

Have a good day, and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.